


when the wind's from the east, and the sun's from the west

by Thorinsmut



Series: Aladdin AU [1]
Category: Aladdin (1992), The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Aromantic!Thorin, Branding, Complete, CrimeLord!Genie, Crossover, Dancing, Drowning, Emotional Manipulation, Execution, FTM!Thorin, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family, Happy Ending, Human AU, Human!Genie, Imprisonment, Kissing, M/M, Misgendering, Murder, Music, Pining, Polyamory, Rescue Attempt, Sign Language, Smaug takes the place of Jafar, Smut, Sparring, Threats, Torture, Trans Character, Whump, bad things happen, death bed orders, hair cutting, inadvisable decisions, lol what is canon, long con, made up religion based on the Valar, mute!Dwalin, secrets and lies, there is no Frerin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-29
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-02-23 03:18:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 29
Words: 52,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2532155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorinsmut/pseuds/Thorinsmut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Street-rat Nori is chained to the most dangerous man in Agrabah, the criminal they call the Genie. He is sent into the palace on the most dangerous con of his life—posing as a foreign prince trying to woo Thorin and scope out any treasures for future theft. All he wants is to be free.</p><p>Dwalin, raised to be a royal guard, wants the freedom to choose his own path.</p><p>Thorin wants the freedom to be a prince and someday rule without all this pressure to marry and give the kingdom to someone else.</p><p>Smaug just wants power.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. prologue 1

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by a rather silly discussion on Tumblr  
> (MAJOR SPOILERS)  
> http://littlestsecret.tumblr.com/post/99745572212/asparklethatisblue-kailthia-thorinsmut  
> http://hobbitfing.tumblr.com/post/99767926159  
> I am definitely indebted to everyone who discussed it for ideas for this AU. These links contain a lot of spoilers, but I most definitely will NOT be using all of everyone's suggestions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please be aware of the 'misgendering' tag on this fic. It is both blatant (with incorrect pronouns and social expectations) and subtle (the way others respond to a character).

The ballad went that Sultan Thrain had sired two beautiful daughters. The younger princess, Dis, held sunlight in her laughter and was sweet and kind, as bright as Nessa of youth, and beloved of all who met her. The elder, Thayris, had hair as glossy and dark as a raven's wing, a tall and brooding beauty as studious as Vaire weaver of the world, and would surely marry carefully to choose a suitable Sultan to rule them and bear many fat and beautiful babies to keep the royal line strong.

That was the story and song, and the last time anyone dared sing it in front of _Prince Thorin_ he cracked the minstrel's oud over the minstrel's own unlucky head.

"That was unkind," Dis said gently.

"So was he," Thorin growled, tugging awkwardly at the bottom hem of the vest he'd 'borrowed' from his guard, Dwalin. It never would sit right, no matter how he bound his chest down. "I will be Sultan and rule in my own right, like any prince. _You_ can be Queen and have the babies for the royal line. You want them."

"I already promised I would," Dis agreed with one of her sunny smiles, and Thorin couldn't help smiling back—but he, at least, was old enough to know it would only be a matter of time before their hands were forced. They couldn't keep holding on to their childhood dreams of a life they _wanted_ forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now with made-up religion based on Tolkien's Valar.  
> http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Valar


	2. prologue 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwalin plays in the market of Agrabah

Dwalin watched for the boy in the market. On his off days Dwalin came out into the city of Agrabah and played his bağlama—set out a cloth for coins and pretended he'd been a musician instead of being pushed into the family business of royal guard.

He played his bağlama, his own composition of popular and classic tunes, and he watched the boy whenever he could.

The boy was beautiful. In a land of dark hair and rich brown skin, he was a flame. He had crusader hair, deep red and long, always escaping from his braids in every direction. His skin was paler than most, with copper flecks of freckles across his nose if you looked closely. He was small and quick and he was always smiling, always laughing. His eyes were brilliant, hazeled bronze, and he watched Dwalin too.

Sometimes, he would throw a coin onto Dwalin's cloth and stay close to listen, and Dwalin would play just to him. Sometimes the boy would dance, sinuous and beautiful in his patched clothes, before he laughed and ran away. Dwalin tried to speak to him with the music. He tried to tell the boy that he was beautiful, that Dwalin wanted to know him, touch him, listen to his jokes and taste the sweet laughter on his lips. They had no language in common for Dwalin to tell him these things, nothing but the music Dwalin did his best to pour the contents of his heart into.

Dwalin had been too young to know what he offered when he took the spell. He'd been a child, living in the tiny world of the palace where some were guard-silenced and some spoke and everyone signed. His mother had been so proud that he was growing so big and strong, that he excelled in combat. He'd been guided and pushed into the family business, and he'd been too young to know what he was giving up when the spell burnt away all his words so he could be trusted as a royal guard.

Dwalin could not speak, and no one outside the palace walls could sign, and the beautiful boy in the market smiled when Dwalin played for him.

He never knew the boy's name. Dwalin watched for him in the market when he came to play on his free days, but the boy stopped coming. Dwalin missed him—missed the _dream_ of him, really, since he'd never known him—and his life moved on. Eventually Dwalin stopped coming to the market, too.

There was more than enough to keep him busy keeping Thorin out of trouble in the palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Bağlama:  
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba%C4%9Flama
> 
> Now with art by the lovely Sparkle!  
> http://asparklethatisblue.tumblr.com/post/104709148268/he-tried-to-tell-the-boy-that-he-was-beautiful


	3. prologue 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the Cave of Wonders

Nori sniffled as quietly as he could into his knees, curled up tiny in his corner. Trying his best to stay unnoticed.

His right shoulder throbbed, thief brand that would mark him the rest of his life still burning into his skin. He still had his hands. He still had both his hands and he dug his nails into his calves to remind himself of that. To try and be grateful. Dori had been able to do that much for him, but no more. He couldn't get Nori out of prison, and he hadn't been able to stop them from branding him or cutting off all his hair.

His _hair_ , his stupid beautiful red hair. He'd heard the guards laughing about how much the wigmaker would pay them for it. Told him to be grateful they'd made him less pretty. Nori only had a few ragged tufts left on his head and it hurt almost as much as the brand. His hair was what got him caught. Too bright, too recognizable. Too foreign. Anyone who saw it could trace him right back to the immigrant quarter of Agrabah. By rights he ought to hate his hair, but it was _his hair_. It was his _mother's_ hair, and he didn't have anything else of hers to remember her by.

They'd taken it away from him and seared the brand of a thief into the back of his right shoulder. If he was ever caught again, they'd see it and he really _wouldn't_ escape with both his hands attached. There wouldn't be anything Dori could do about it.

Nori sniffled again, wiping his eyes on the ragged knees of his pants.

"Stings, doesn't it?"

Nori's head jerked up so fast he knocked the back of it against the wall. His heart jumped up into his throat as he took on the man who'd spoken to him and he turned his face away sharply, hardly daring to breathe. A wide-shouldered man all dressed in blue with big showy gold bands on his wrists and an immaculately tended narrow beard, soft-footed enough Nori hadn't heard him approach. The Genie, they called him, master of the elite criminal circle they called the Cave of Wonders.

 _He_ was no prisoner. He was not supposed to be here, but he came and went where he pleased. There was no guard in the city who'd risk their neck to cross the Genie. Everyone knew who he was, the man who would make all your dreams come true—for a price. Nori knew the stories well as anyone.

"Here, I've got an ointment. Take the sting right out of that burn," he offered with a big friendly smile. Nori edged away from him. The brand throbbed, worse than anything had hurt in his life, but he knew he was not supposed to trust the Genie or anyone like him.

"It's just a little salve, won't hurt," the Genie promised.

"Why?" Nori demanded.

"I'm in a helping mood. You looked like you could use a friend."

"I don't need friends," Nori snapped back. Dori had made it very clear that he was not supposed to talk to anyone in here. He was supposed to keep his head down, try not to be noticed, somehow survive months in prison all on his own, and then he could come home.

"Everyone needs friends," the Genie soothed. "Especially in a place like _this_. You wouldn't like what happens to people without friends."

Nori's nails dug deeper into his calves, ducking his head down as he sniffled. He knew. He knew he was in trouble. Everything had been funny and fun and happy and now he was branded and short haired and friendless. He didn't move away again when the Genie began dabbing the salve gently across his burn. It did help, immediately dulling the sharp sting.

"There, that's better," the Genie smiled. "Are you hungry?" He didn't wait for an answer, pulling a loaf of bread out of his pocket and breaking it in half to offer Nori. Nori's stomach answered for him, growling loudly as it came back awake. He'd not gotten much to eat the last few days. He hadn't been fighting for a better place in line to get food—trying to stay unnoticed. He half expected it to be a trick, but the Genie shoved the bread into his hand instead of pulling it away when Nori reached for it. It didn't even seem like he was asking for anything in exchange.

Nori gulped the bread down, finally filling his empty stomach.

"A shame about your hair," the Genie mused, taking a big bite of his half loaf of bread and handing the rest to Nori. "It'll look better trimmed evenly, and it will grow back. You might consider dyeing it, though."

Nori washed the bread down with a mouthful of the murky water prisoners were provided and did not look at the Genie.

"I heard about that chase of yours, very impressive." the Genie said casually, picking at his gold arm bands. "You almost escaped the guards, and even with all of them after you you managed to pass off the goods unseen. I'd put good money they'd never catch you the same way again."

Nori nodded, he'd already thought up at least five ways he could have escaped, before he remembered he was not _going_ to and hid his face against his knees again. He wasn't going to be caught the same way because he wasn't going to steal anymore. He was going to survive in here unnoticed and when he got home he was going directly into the weaver's guild. Dori'd told him so. He was going to spend the rest of his life as good as chained too a loom, until his back was all hunched over and his eyes were weak from peering at threads and he forgot sun and free air and music and dancing and stolen kisses sweet with stolen wine and everything else that made life worth living.

"Someone with your skills could go far in life, with the right friends," the Genie said. He held his big hand out to Nori, "What do you say?"

Nori shrank away, shaking his head. He couldn't. This was exactly what Dori had warned him against the hardest.

"I'm sure you have your own plans, smart boy like you." The Genie stood, shrugging dismissively. "I'm sure you have some way to survive the months of your sentence without a friend in the world, without any protection, and something far better than the Cave of Wonders waiting for you when you get out."

He turned away, heading toward the outside—toward freedom that Nori might not ever live to see again. And Nori _didn't_ have a plan for how to survive in here. He hadn't been noticed yet, but that was just luck. He knew that. The guards wouldn't interfere if anyone took a dislike to Nori, and he didn't want to die. He didn't want to die and he didn't want to spend his life chained to a loom and he knew the stories about the Genie as well as anyone. He only invited the _best_ to the Cave of Wonders, and they weren't the kind of people who got caught. They weren't the kind of people who had to live their lives terrified of losing their hands.

"Wait," Nori was on his feet, clumsily stumbling toward the Genie on legs he had not stretched out in too long. "Wait."

"Changed your mind about needing friends?" the Genie asked, smile wrinkles around his eyes.

"Yes," Nori nodded hard. "But just me. My family stays out of it?" he begged.

"Easy enough," the Genie granted. "Come on, we'll just have to change your name." He had Nori by the elbow, leading him out of the prison.

"I can't just walk out..." Nori breathed, waving his arm slightly. It wasn't that easy!

"Sure you can. No one saw anything," the Genie shrugged, and it was true. There wasn't a guard who looked in their direction. They all firmly had their backs turned or their heads down to work at something as soon as they caught a glimpse of the Genie. Nori stuck to the Genie's side and walked right out of the prison as though he'd never been locked in.

"Wow..." he breathed. The Genie pulled a turn of cloth out of a pocket and wound it quickly into a simple turban on Nori's head, hiding his butchered hair. He made it the style with a long trailing tail, which he draped over Nori's shoulder—hiding his thief brand.

"Stick with me. You and I are going to go far, Ali. How do you like the sound of Ali? It suits you," the Genie grinned, sharp and hard as he draped his arm around Nori to pull him along. "You've never had a friend like me."

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> becoming a prince

The thief called Ali sat very quietly on the top of a building and gazed out at the palace. It glowed bright in the moonlight.

Nori had done well for himself in the years since the Genie took him in. He unwound his turban to set his hair free. It flowed down past his shoulder blades, now, and he carefully combed it out to begin braiding. For years he'd dyed it brown, made himself as nondescript and forgettable as possible. He was careful, so careful. To the Cave of Wonders and the world he was only Ali. Dori might guess what Nori did, but none of the very few people who knew Nori knew he was Ali of the Cave of Wonders. He kept his lives carefully separate—or he had, until now.

"Ali, Ali, my one-man crime spree!" the Genie had smacked Nori's back, smiling hard, "I'm going to make you a prince."

Everyone knew the Sultan was trying to find a prince to marry Thayris. His search took on an increasing air of desperation as all were rejected. Princes of less renoun, and from further away, all came to be rejected. Not all of them survived the long journey to Agrabah. Nori did not ask how the prince had died, nor how the Genie had come into possession of his effects. Nori was to be a prince minor enough and from far enough away that no one should question never having heard of him. If Thayris had been easy to marry no prince with so little to offer Agrabah in terms of alliance would have been considered.

"Everything plays right into our hands," the Genie had crowed. "I'll send in my best thief, you be your most charming self, and we'll finally get somewhere. If you can't woo Thayris at least we've finally got a good pair of eyes past their impenetrable guard. If you _can_ , it wouldn't be so bad to marry the princess for the chance to be Sultan, would it? The Cave of Wonders would do better than ever before!"

"Thayris is... handsome," Nori had mused. He could see the value of finally getting into the palace to see their layout, find the weak points it _must_ have. The silenced royal guards were intimidating, but they were only human after all. There must be ways to get into the royal treasury.

And then there was Thayris...

There was the famed song about Thrain's two princesses, of course, but Nori was not so sure. He had placed himself to catch glimpses of the royal family during their rare public appearances more than once. There was aging Sultan Thrain, and pretty Dis with her laughing mouth just as the song said—but then there was Thayris. Thayris who stood scowling beside Thrain with folded arms, sword tucked through a bright red sash, far more like a follower of Tulkas the warrior than Vaire the weaver to Nori's eyes.

Thayris who had dressed as a man for many years.

"Aha, that's my Ali. You really do like anything, don't you?" the Genie had laughed, snapping Nori out of his musing. They'd gone on with their planning of the most elaborate con of Nori's life, but he kept coming back to that.

Nori tossed his thick braid over his shoulder and looked back up at the palace. He would be in there soon. Tomorrow, if all went well. He'd spent two months planning, preparing—getting the henna to wash out of his hair so he was finally deep red again instead of brown. The prince had had a very fine white camel, which Nori would ride in on. He'd hired a few folk to pose as his 'servants' come ahead of him to hire others to make his arrival procession. There would be dancers and musicians and even bakers handing out free bread, which was guaranteed to make him instantly popular. Mostly, though, Nori had been practicing making himself seem like he came from Cilicia. He'd been born and raised in Agrabah, but his mother was from there. He'd practiced his accent—making it nice and thick again when he'd worked so hard to eradicate it. He'd sung songs and practiced dances he hadn't danced since he was a child.

Dori had been polite about Nori visiting even if he never seemed all that happy to see him. He never turned down Nori's money, though. He needed it, especially with the little brother he'd adopted. Ori. He hardly knew Nori, but he was a sweet kid. He wouldn't turn out like Nori if either of them could help it.

Nori was welcome among the Cilician immigrants, those few he interacted with. They knew what it meant that he walked softly and was rarely seen and _never_ in daylight. They knew he was a criminal of some sort, but he was one of them. His old friend Bofur was willing to sing and dance with Nori, and Dori was willing to let Nori sit in and listen to stories from Cilicia, and most helpful of all Nori practiced his Greek with Bifur. A prince from any city in Cilicia would be able to speak at least a little Greek. Bifur couldn't speak anything else since his accident.

Bifur, Bifur, and Nori's thoughts spiraled around to Thayris again. Nori hid his braided hair under his turban again—best let as few as possible know anything about what he looked like. It was a habit that had served him for years. He should have gone right down to say goodnight to Ori and Dori, and go get ready for his entry into the palace tomorrow. He should have, but instead he lept softly from roof to roof to Bofur's house, the way he'd done so often as a kid. Bifur was out on his roof too, where he so often was. He could not always sleep well at night. He beckoned Nori over, and Nori settled in beside him, still watching the palace gleam in the moonlight.

Bifur never pushed, let Nori take as long as he needed to gather the words he wanted to say.

"I was thinking about Thayris," Nori finally said. "And I was thinking about you."

"Mmmm," Bifur answered, and just as he never pushed for anyone to talk, he couldn't be pushed to speak faster. Nori watched him, the white streaks in his hair gleaming in the moonlight, the soft curve of his beardless face. "Thayris reminds me of myself, too," he finally answered.

Nori leaned against Bifur's shoulder briefly, a wordless thanks, and then he really did have to go. He ran sure and light across the roofs to his own again, slipped quietly through the hatch into the house he used to call his own. Ori was already in bed, but his eyelashes fluttered open when Nori kissed his brow in goodbye.

"Nori?" Ori's voice was sleepy-thick, "You're going?"

"I'm going," Nori agreed, petting Ori's hair soothingly and tucking his blanket closer around him. "You be good, listen to Dori and stay out of trouble. Remember I love you."

"Love you too," Ori sighed into his blankets. Nori never promised he'd be back, he wouldn't give promises he didn't know he could keep, and Ori had stopped asking them from him. Nori patted his shoulder and left him to sleep. Dori was watching when Nori left Ori's room.

Nori just hugged him. He couldn't tell Dori what he was planning or where he was going, it wasn't safe, but he was afraid. It was the biggest con he'd ever tried to pull, with his own face and hair and under his own name, with the deadliest consequences if he failed.

"Oh Nori," Dori sighed, strong arms tight around him. "I wish you could stop."

Nori only squeezed him tighter. He left his brother with a kiss to the cheek and slipped away, leaving Dori wringing his hands alone. He had a con to pull, and too many last minute details to bring together.

Maybe after _this_ one he could stop—but even as he thought it he knew it was hopeless. The Genie could do anything for a price, and the price for Nori's life was his life. He was in the Cave of Wonders now.

He was chained to the Genie for as long as he lived.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> into the palace

The parade went as well as a parade could be expected to go. The dancers and musicians cleared the way ahead of Nori on his decorated camel, and the bakers handed out bread, which made people happy. People did not take him too seriously, of course. Everyone expected Thayris would send him packing like all the other princes. The madams of a few brothels called out to offer their houses for comfort after his rejection. They did not take Nori seriously, but his parade was an interesting spectacle to watch and the free bread was welcome. Nori spotted more than one clever kid who was running ahead to be there at every cross street for another loaf. That would have been Nori, once, and he smiled.

"Let them," Nori soothed one of the bakers when she began to grumble about it. It hurt no one and the bread was paid for, she had no cause to complain.

The white camel sold Nori as a prince more than the rich clothes he wore. She was an elegant beast, good tempered, but _she_ knew it was a prince supposed to be on her back and behaved accordingly. Her silver-tongued bells rang sweetly, tassels swaying with her gait. Nori just had to ride her, and the Genie had been sure Nori knew useful skills like camel riding. This con could never have been pulled off without the camel. No one with even a little camel sense would have been fooled if they'd used a camel from any of the nearby cities, but the camel, at least, was authentic.

Nori did not look like himself at all—or maybe he finally did again after so many years of hiding. He was not sure himself. His head was uncovered to let his red crusader hair gleam in the sun. He wore a small circlet over it, and it was bound into a tail with two clasps, but his hair still had the volume to be impressive. He was primped and posed to perfection and kept his gaze slightly above people's eyes. He'd watched more than enough princes come to be rejected to know how they behaved.

Or at least how they behaved outside the palace.

Nori's parade led him to the gates of the palace, which opened for him. His hired musicians and dancers sang _his own_ name as they finished what they had been paid to do and parted to let him through. Nori was a common enough name for a Cilician, but it still went against everything he'd tried to do since the one time he'd been arrested. Since he'd entered the Cave of Wonders.

Only the Genie knew who Nori was, not even anyone else in the Cave of Wonders knew where he was going. Nori doubted even Dori would recognize him like this, after so many years of hiding everything about himself from everyone, but it was still uncomfortable.

Nori made sure to nod briefly in thanks to the lead dancer and musician and baker, tossing them a few extra coins for a job well done, before the white camel took him through the gates. Silenced royal guards closed them behind him, and the deadliest con of Nori's life truly began.

The world inside the gates was as different from the world outside it as night and day. Within the palace was an oasis, fruit trees and delicate scented flowers and the songs of exotic birds, bright contrast to the bustle of the city outside. The camel was completely unphased by the change of scene. Nori followed the quiet hand signals of a few discreet servants and rode her to the base of the palace steps. She groaned loudly but obeyed when he tapped her shoulder, kneeling to allow him to dismount.

At the top of the steps was Thrain and his entourage. Nori lept gracefully down from the camel, leaving her with an affectionate pat to the neck, and strode up the steps to his doom with a bright smile. Neither Thayris nor Dis were with the Sultan.

"Sultan of Great Agrabah, Thrain," Nori greeted, his mother's Cilician accent lending lightness to his tongue as he bowed. "Prince Nori of Tigranakert, at your command. I have traveled far to see Thayris." Nori did not immediately begin singing that his heart was lost to Thayris' description in the song, that he was in love and would have no other. His first break with the Genie's plan, and his palms prickled with sweat.

Thrain's face looked tired behind his big heavily-silvered beard. He nodded to Nori.

"You are welcome here, Prince Nori." Thrain greeted. "You and... your servants?" He glanced toward the camel placidly chewing her cud, very obviously unattended. The Genie had decided that anyone else brought into the plan would be a weak point.

"The journey from Cilicia is long, and dangerous. Those few who came with me, protected me..." Nori trailed off, allowing himself to think of lost friends for a moment to lend reality to his wistful sadness. He shook it off quickly, smiling again. "But I am here." he finished.

"Welcome," Thrain repeated. He clapped his hands as he stepped back and ordered Nori's camel and belongings cared for in a few short words. Nori saw the servants begin bustling, but not actually _doing_ much of anything. They expected he would be out as quickly as any other prince. No sense unloading his camel if he would be riding back out on her at once. Nori followed beside Thrain into the cool shade of the palace. It was beautiful inside, carefully designed to gather cool breezes, carved and decorated to perfection. Nori admired it, very careful not to cross the line into gawping at it. He was a prince, and was used to finery even if he was unfamiliar with this particular place.

"Ask if Nori will be seen now or later," the Sultain sent a servant running off, presumably to ask Thayris to see him. Nori turned around, admiring the palace's architecture and cataloging everything he could about it in case he got out of here with his head attached to his shoulders. There was gold trim on the white plastered walls, worth a pretty penny chiseled off—but not the sort of job that could be done with servants and guards around. The guards might be silenced, but they could still _hear_ just fine.

Nori nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned back around and nearly into a tall thin man. He smelled like fire and was dressed all in dull red like drying blood, his beard trained into sharp points along the bottom of his jaw. His eyes were yellows and grays and nearly looked as slit-pupiled as a snake, drilling into Nori.

"Where did you say you were from?" he asked, and Nori could almost swear his teeth were sharp fangs.

"My Vizier, Smaug," Thrain introduced. Vizier. Nori knew almost nothing about a vizier, save the vague notion that one existed. Every hair on the back of Nori's neck stood on end, all his instincts screaming danger. He smiled. Being amiably oblivious was often a very good defense. It tended to put the enemy off their guard, at least. Nori somehow did not have the feeling Smaug would be anything else to him.

"Tigranakert," Nori answered. He did not volunteer any more details. Did not spill all of his carefully rehearsed story. Talking too much was suspicious, and running out of planned details to tell was an easy way to get tangled in a lie. Simplicity was key.

"Tigranakert..." Smaug mused, lips twisting in what Nori guessed might be distaste as he looked Nori up and down. "And you are?"

"Thirdborn son of the Sultan... and not of his first wife." Nori confessed, giving a self-depreciating little shrug. A very minor princeling indeed. If he were a real person they still would not expect to know of him so far away. A prince in name, but not one who could be expected to offer much to Agrabah.

"My liege," Smaug turned to practically slither around Thrain, oozing disdain. "Thayris needs a strong hand at the rein. Surely she deserves better than this..."

"And I have told you no," the Sultain broke him off, rubbing his tired forehead. "It cannot hurt at this point to let the boy try his chances. He has traveled a long way."

"I am very eager to meet Thayris," Nori broke in. It went against his every survival instinct to call attention to himself in front of men in power, even if they were talking about him, but he was playing a prince. He was in theory nearly the equal of Thrain, and above Smaug. He would be used to speaking of himself, pushing himself forward.

The servant Thrain had sent away gave a small cough, and the Sultan turned to him.

"What word?" he asked.

"Now. If it would please your highness to follow to the study?" the second part was addressed to Nori, who nodded. The servant bowed deeply to Nori and turned away, clearly intending to lead him on immediately. Thrain gave him a go-on sort of gesture, and Nori followed. His last glance behind showed Smaug glowering after him. Nori almost thought he saw a curl of fire leave his nostrils in a huff before he turned the corner into the corridor and the vizier was lost to his sight.

The servant did not see fit to say anything else to Nori as he led him on. Nori kept his eyes open, memorizing the layout of whatever he could see. There were rugs and other valuable ornaments everywhere, and the occasional guard on duty. The servant stopped before a door, gesturing him on. Nori took a deep settling breath, smiled bright, and stepped through into the study.

The study was a brightly lit room, comfortable with cushions and low couches, with a few shelves for scrolls. The bulk of the library and any truly valuable texts would be somewhere else, protected from the sun. Nori had robbed a few libraries in his day.

Thayris and a single guard were the only occupants of the room. The guard was impressive, shaved bald with massive shoulders and two big axes over them. He folded his arms across his broad chest, showing off the bulk of his biceps, but Nori forced his attention to Thayris.

Thayris stood from the couch, nearly as tall as the guard though more slender, with the glossy raven's wing hair the song proclaimed but a big sword on a hip and a scowl no one had ever sang about.

"Thayris?" Nori asked, bowing politely, heart thudding in his throat.

"My name is _Thorin_."

Thorin, not Thayris—and on the strength of the masculine name famously belonging to one of the Sultan's grandfathers, and Bifur's judgment, and the fact that Thorin was wearing a man's clothes with chest bound down tight beneath, Nori took his second gamble away from the Genie's plan. It was not unheard of for a woman to prefer a man's clothes. If Nori was wrong, he would lose his neck for the insult. If he were smart, he would play it safe and try to get himself thrown out alive like every other prince before him.

"Forgive me for having misheard your name, Thorin," Nori corrected himself, bowing how a man might to a man in a higher position than his own. "I see much changed in the news of Agrabah before it reached my ears in Cilicia. I had expected a princess, but surely _you_ are a prince?"

Thorin's eyes widened, taking a half step back in surprise and the scowl gone completely. The guard behind Thorin smiled, a tension leaving his shoulders, and a small part of the ice knot in Nori's stomach eased.

He was in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to werpiper for help naming places!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Thorin makes a friend

"Surely _you_ must be a prince?"

Years, Thorin had fought to be seen as _himself_. Years of fighting, and then this pale red-haired princeling who's name he had not even bothered to listen to looked at him and saw _Thorin_. He accepted Thorin's name the first time he was told. His brilliant bronze hazel eyes looked directly into him and knew him at first glance.

"I am," Thorin managed, thrown utterly off balance. Princes who expected to come and marry him did not behave this way. He had expected the usual shock at his appearance, denial and demands to meet the 'real' princess, the occasional anger at having been 'tricked' into making the journey, or the thinly veiled disgust of those desperate enough to attempt to court him regardless.

The little man laughed as bright and clear as a bell, hand covering his mouth and his eyes dancing. "How awkward of me!" he laughed, "What a fool I must seem!" He was laughing at himself, and not at Thorin. Inviting Thorin into the joke. "I have traveled such a long way. I hope I could stay a little while in beautiful Agrabah before I return home, that we might be friends?"

"I..." Thorin had no script for this situation, though he could not help his answering smile at the red haired prince's laughter. This might just be a more sophisticated attempt at courting—or the other prince might be telling the truth. He might be a bit silly and good natured and truly see Thorin. Thorin glanced toward Dwalin for assistance, but his guard was no help. Dwalin had a slightly wistful expression, gazing at the prince. He must be pretty, and glancing back Thorin could see it. His hair was eye-catching, his build delicate, and his vibrancy made him beautiful.

Other princes could be friends or friendly rivals with each other, traded gifts and letters and visits. Thorin, for his birth, was denied this—but this prince was offering it to him. He could still throw him out on his ear if it turned out he was false, but Thorin was _hungry_ for another friend who saw him. Dis had always supported him, and Dwalin, though Thorin was never sure if it was because Dwalin believed him or because he was doing as told. It was always a gamble whether the Sultan would use Thorin's name or the wrong one.

"You are welcome to rest here, prince..." Thorin prompted.

"Prince Nori!" the small man introduced. "I should have said sooner, forgive me." There was no hint of the offended haughty pride another prince might have shown to have had his name forgotten. Nori's immediate deference to Thorin, placing the blame on himself, was novel. He seemed determined to be friendly.

"Shall I show you around the Palace?" Thorin offered. He did know what was expected of him as a host. He'd had to give more than a few tours to peacocking princes before he'd gotten so good at offending and rejecting them—but unlike then, Thorin was intrigued rather than annoyed. Nori's smile brightened as he bounced up on his toes and back, eager as a child.

"I would love to see more of the palace," he accepted. "The palace in Tigranakert isn't nearly this grand."

Thorin adjusted his sword on his hip—a bit showy and awkward but it tended to send the right message to pushy princes—and led him on. Nori settled in at Thorin's side at a respectful distance, and admired everything he was shown. He exclaimed over the size of the library, where Thorin's family had for generations gathered as much knowledge as they could. They had racks and racks of the latest scientific treatises and more of gathered tales. Nori whistled sweet little chirps to the caged birds in the gardens, admiring their pretty feathers. He nodded over the architecture and the quality of the murals in the grandest rooms of the palace. Nori knew at least a little of camels and nodded over the palaces breeding stock. Thorin himself was not drawn particularly to it, but his father was still very involved and Thorin knew he would be pleased if word traveled back to him that Nori had mentioned that of course _everyone_ knew Agrabah's camels were the best for endurance and the quality of their wool.

Nori's own camel was stabled separately from the main herd, of course, but she was still fully loaded with his belongings and otherwise untended.

"There is no water for her?" Nori asked, his narrow freckled face for the first time showing worry as his eternal smile left him. "I can tend her myself if I need. She is so loyal and has carried me so far alone, I can't bear to see her wait." He looked around, as if to search for a bucket himself as he leaned his hand against her shoulder. It was Thorin's fault, of course. The servants were not tending to the camel because they expected Nori to be rejected immediately. Thorin might still throw him out, but there was no cause to have his camel suffer for it.

"Why has this camel not been tended!" Thorin gave his best bellow, sending up a wave of answering complaints from the camels and servants scurrying around. "I will not see my _friend's_ camel mistreated, see to her at once," Thorin ordered the head camel groom, who bowed deeply with a murmur of 'highness'.

Nori gave Thorin a brilliant smile for it, petting his elegant white camel one last time and then stepping back as servants came running up with buckets of water for her. Dwalin, who had been following along behind as always, raised an eyebrow at Thorin. A glare was all he deserved in answer, not that it stopped him from grinning. Bastard.

Thorin had to order a set of guest rooms opened for Nori too, since that had not been done either. The rooms were simple enough, but Nori admired the softness of the drapes on the bed and the small baths were he could attend to simple grooming.

Nori's bright eyes were everywhere as Thorin led him through the palace. He had a habit of looking _up_ , where most did not, and he noticed every servant and guard they passed. His clearly noticing made Thorin notice them too, when normally they faded into the background.

Nori accepted Thorin's invitation to join him for a meal, which he of course shared with Dwalin as well. It was just simple goat kebabs in sauce and wrapped in flatbread, but Nori seemed to enjoy them, and he only drank lightly of the sweet palm wine. He told a story, a ridiculous children's tale from Cilicia about a monkey and a snake that Thorin could not help laughing at and even surprised a big guffaw from Dwalin.

Nori jumped at it, eyes going wide as he stared at Dwalin. "I... I thought Agrabah's Royal Guards were silenced," he asked, "You can speak?"

Dwalin looked quickly away from him, signing ' _no_ ' sharply with his first two fingers tapping his thumb.

"Dwalin is guard silenced," Thorin explained quickly, knowing it was a bit of a tender subject with Dwalin—especially where pretty men were involved. "The silenced cannot speak words, but they do still laugh and they can shout to alert one another of danger. They communicate with hand sign. This is 'no'." Thorin repeated Dwalin's sign for Nori with his first two fingers tapping his thumb, second two curled in to his palm. Nori brightened, repeating it. "And this is yes," Thorin made a quick tapping motion with his closed fist, which Nori also repeated.

"Ingenious. I will have to learn some of this while I am visiting," Nori's smile encompassed both Thorin and Dwalin as he picked his cup back up. He complemented the flavor of the date wine and then Thorin was not even sure  _how_ he'd managed it but Nori had Thorin telling stories about Agrabah's palace and what he had been studying most recently. Nori nodded along, encouraged him with brief comments, and did nothing but smile at Thorin. It was nothing like the simpering attention of princes who hoped to marry Thorin back when he dressed like a woman, it was just... companionable. Friendly.

Thorin's heart fell when Dis came to join them. She was the light of his heart, he loved her better than anyone else, but he was enjoying Nori's easy company so much he did not want it all ruined when the Cilician prince attempted seduction on his little sister. Nori would not be the first prince who tried when they found they did not want Thorin, there was a _reason_ Thorin's tour had not taken him near her rooms.

"You must be princess Dis," Nori greeted her politely enough, but he turned back to Thorin just as soon as the pleasantries were over. "You were saying about the astronomers..." he prompted, and he listened when Thorin spoke. He was not a scholar in the same way Thorin was, that much was obvious, but he was sharp. He was enjoyable to talk to. Dis lay against Thorin's side, chiming in occasionally, and it was companionable still.

"I like him too," Dis whispered in Thorin's ear, kissing his cheek before she laughed and ran off again.

Thorin saw Nori to his guest rooms as the sun began to set. It had been many many years since a visiting prince had stayed to spend the night, and then only because Thorin had not known how to get rid of them yet. Nori, though... Nori was welcome. They walked through the gardens, heading back toward the guest rooms. Nori smiled as he looked up at the balconies and rooms.

"That one's mine," he pointed out. "Isn't it?" his eyes rolled up, darting back and forth as if he were examining an internal map, "Yes it is!" It took Thorin a moment himself to figure if he was right, though Dwalin nodded in agreement. As a guard he had to know at a moment's notice where things were in relation to each other.

"I wonder if I could get up to the balcony from here..." Nori mused, weaving back and forth lightly on his feet as he looked the wall over. His lips moved as he calculated it.

" _No_ ," Dwalin signed. " _Can't be done_."

"You'll hurt yourself trying," Thorin discouraged him. The last thing he needed was Nori injuring himself and blaming him.

"Nah, I got this," Nori shoved his circlet into Thorin's hands and took off toward the wall at a dead sprint. He ran up two steps and kicked off to grab a fruit tree's limb, swung himself up it and onto the higher one and then launched himself back at the wall. He caught the decorative carving high up on the wall with his fingertips and pulled himself up it sure as a spider before leaping off toward the balcony. Both Dwalin and Thorin cried out sharply, but he caught the very bottom of the railing with one hand. The muscles strained all across his little body as he somehow crawled up and rolled himself over onto his balcony. Somehow he did it silently, without even a grunt of effort.

"Ha _ha_!" Nori crowed, laughing on his balcony railing with his red hair all escaping from its ties. "You didn't think I could!" Teasing, just like boys would tease each other and no one ever would before with Thorin.

" _Impossible_ ," Dwalin was signing in shock, _"Impossible_ , _impossible_." With his family in charge of security for the palace, it must be a bit of a shock that it could be entered in a way they did not think it could.

"How did you learn to do that?" Thorin demanded.

"I have older brothers," Nori shrugged, hopping down from the railing to lean against it and smile down at them both. "Sometimes it's better to run away." He made 'give here' gestures toward his circlet, and Thorin tossed it up to him. "Good night prince Thorin, Dwalin." he gave a brief wave with his circlet and was gone. Thorin shook his head and continued his walk toward his own quarters.

"He is... different." Thorin observed, just as he made to part from Dwalin at the door of his quarters.

" _Yes_ ," Dwalin signed, and Thorin knew him well enough to see there was something on his mind. He waited, let Dwalin gather his thoughts. " _Reminds me of someone_ ," Dwalin finally signed, wistful again. Thorin patted Dwalin's broad shoulder comfortingly, and left it at that.

Thorin had never met anyone like little Prince Nori of Tigranakert, and he smiled as he unbound his chest so he could _breathe_ and flopped down on his bed to sleep. He was looking forward to tomorrow.

A _friend_. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a little sparring

Being friend to Thorin was easier than Nori would have expected. He had not expected to last in the palace of Agrabah, but Thorin's protection did not waver. No true prince had lasted for multiple days in years and years, Nori knew the speculation out in Agrabah must be intense. Thorin did not want to be courted, that much he had made clear for years, but he was lonely.

Nori did not have many friends, himself, since the Genie took him.

Thorin was good to be friends with. He had a tendency toward grimness, but Nori had always been good at lightening the mood and getting a laugh. Thorin liked to talk, to show off the knowledge he had spent so many years cultivating. He just wanted someone to show an interest, and it was clear few had. He was fun to talk to.

Nori was gathering far more knowledge about the palace than anyone had been able to before. He was not particularly moving on his objective of wooing Thorin, but Nori doubted the Genie had expected him to last this long or gather this much information in the first place.

Prince Thorin wanted Nori as a friend, and he was a good friend to have. Nori enjoyed the time he spent with him and Dwalin. Dwalin could have a wicked sense of humor, he was coming to realize, and teased Thorin far more than he was probably supposed to. They were obviously very close, and Nori spent a lot of time with the two of them.

They noticed the scars on Nori's hands and arms, of course. It was inevitable they would. Just as long as no one saw the thief brand on the back of Nori's right shoulder he was safe.

"Where did you get these?" Thorin asked. He did not touch Nori, pointing out his scars. He always kept a bit of distance between himself and Nori, still not trusting. Considering how princes had treated him for years, Nori could not blame his caution. He was coming to hate how Thorin's lips would clench and his shoulders tighten every time there was a chance for Nori to treat him as though he were a woman. He braced himself against it every time, and Nori could hate the life that had taught him to.

"I fight with knives, it's a bit closer than with a big sword like you. Accidents happen." Nori explained his scars away. He could have left it at that, but Thorin's expression had peaked in curiosity and Nori always did like to see how far he could push.

"Would you spar?" Nori offered with a grin, shifting back and forth on his feet as he sized Thorin up. "You'd have the advantage of size and reach, of course..."

Thorin was thrown off balance once again, lost for words even as that slow grin that complimented Dis' began to spread across his face. He was always surprised when Nori treated him like any other man. Bifur had taught Nori that much, at least. Dwalin, who was always watching Nori, folded his arms across his broad chest. He did not have to share a language with Nori to warn him to be careful.

"I won't do anything that isn't sparring," Nori promised Dwalin as Thorin led them eagerly on to a practice space, "But I'm not going to hold back either."

Dwalin stared him down for a long moment, endlessly deep brown eyes holding Nori's, before he gestured from his chin downward with his palm up. The sign for 'good'. The silenced guards' signed language was brilliant. Nori wanted to learn all of it—or maybe it was Dwalin he wanted to know better. There was something to be said about the warmth of his big belly laugh in contrast to his silence, the carefulness of his big hands at a delicate task in contrast to his strength...

Nori forced his eyes and his thoughts back to Thorin. Thorin was handsome himself, and Nori did like him. That was the thing about a good con, people could tell after a little while if interest was fake. Everything had to be as real as possible, and with Thorin that was easier than some jobs he'd worked. Nori wasn't the Genie's best by allowing himself to get side-tracked by big beautiful men.

The practice space Thorin led Nori to was clean and comfortable, with racks and racks of light practice weapons. Thorin headed unerringly for a favorite sword while Nori tested out the knives to find a few that suited. He settled for a pair of blunt wooden knives with good _swish_ when he swung them through the air, and a third surreptitiously slipped into his sash.

Thorin and Dwalin were signing to each other in gestures far too quick for Nori to pick apart with his limited vocabulary, but at the end of it Thorin smiled and Dwalin laughed. Thorin had tied his hair back to keep it out of his way and settled into a classic fighter's stance in the middle of the space. Nori tossed his braid over his shoulder and answered it with a dancer's pose a few steps before him, and could not help his smile at Thorin's surprised raised eyebrow. Starting like a dance was a good way to get an opponent off guard. He did not give away any particular fighting school to prepare to counter. Nori glanced toward Dwalin, who nodded and clapped to begin the round.

Thorin attacked hard and fast—strong and direct as Nori'd predicted. Nori danced back from the first swing of Thorin's sword, slid in through the second, tangled his ankle with Thorin's and sent him to the floor with a twist of his hip on the momentum of his own swing.

Thorin went down hard, but he knew how to fall. He rolled through it unhurt. It was so sudden Dwalin did not even clap the end of the round.

"What was that?" Thorin demanded, "How did you do that?"

"I can show you," Nori offered him a hand up, which he accepted, pulling himself roughly back to his feet. Nori walked him through it step by step—past the swing, in close to the safety inside Thorin's range, the moment when he could have stabbed him in the back, and then the twist that used Thorin's own body against him to knock him down.

"That's dirty and dishonorable," Thorin accused, laughing as Nori gave him a hand up again.

"Yeah," Nori agreed, "And I've always been small. You think I could take you strength for strength?" he shook his head in answer. Thorin was slender in comparison to Dwalin, but he was bigger than Nori and had clearly worked hard on his strength. Thorin's eyes narrowed in a smile, the way they always did when something he was proud of was praised.

Thorin's stance as he set up for a second round was looser, more focused. Taking Nori seriously now that he knew Nori was taking him seriously. Nori went for a second dancer's pose, and Dwalin was smiling as he clapped for another round. This time Thorin was more wary, and they traded hard blocks and blows back and forth until Thorin fell for the lost knife gambit and Nori ended the round with his concealed knife shoved hard into Thorin's stomach. If it were a real knife and a real fight, Nori'd have killed him. Not that he'd ever killed anyone, not yet, but the Genie had made sure Nori could. He was no use without useful skills.

"What?" Thorin coughed, winded by the blow, as Dwalin clapped the end of the round. Nori walked him through the move once the prince had caught his breath back. Thorin knocked the knife out of Nori's right hand, Nori attacked with the left, Thorin blocked the left, and Nori attacked with the hidden knife in a right hand Thorin assumed was unarmed and not a threat.

"You are _nasty_ ," Thorin accused, rubbing at the bruise Nori had left under his ribs. Nori had one or two himself; Thorin was very good, just not trained to be ruthless.

"Yes," Nori agreed, "And I'm alive."

Thorin had been stretching out in preparation for another round, but he stopped. He handed his practice sword off to Dwalin and glanced up at the undecorated ceiling for a moment before he rested his hand on Nori's shoulder. He gave it a brief hard squeeze.

"I... I am glad you're here now, Nori." Thorin said simply, shaking his head as he headed for the door.

"No more sparring?" Nori asked. He could still keep going, glanced toward Dwalin who was putting Thorin's sword away. "How about you Dwalin? Think you could take me in a round?"

Dwalin snorted, and Nori didn't need any translation for an indication of Dwalin and then Nori with a sign like snapping a twig between. 'I would break you'.

Nori could have smiled, goaded him into it, shown that he hadn't used _half_ the dirty tricks he knew and... and what? Get his hands on Dwalin and Dwalin's on him to see if there was anything there to work with? That wasn't what he was here for. Nori just quirked an eyebrow and put his knives away to follow Thorin.

He had to keep his mind on Thorin. Thorin was his target.

He _liked_ Thorin.


	8. Chapter 8

Nori followed Thorin back to the study after their sparring session—what he suspected would only be the first of their sparring sessions. They shared cooling drinks and some food, and then Thorin settled in to his studies. The palace of Agrabah had received copies of some new scientific advancements that Thorin was eagerly working his way through. Dwalin enjoyed reading as well, though he would take frequent exercise breaks to keep himself alert. Nori certainly did not mind the sight. Nori _could_ read, some. It was another useful skill. He was no scholar and he never would be, but the palace library did hold a generous collection of entertaining tales. The librarians had been polite about helping Nori find things he could read, and Thorin had generously cleared a space near one of the couches for Nori to keep his reading materials. The surprise even Dwalin had shown at that showed Nori as much as anything what an unusual honor it was.

Dwalin leaned his hip against the window to read standing, Thorin sat himself at a comfortable desk, and Nori flopped himself across the comfortable couch he'd claimed as his own. His reading was an entertaining retelling of a historical account, but he could not help but notice that Thorin was not settling as easily as he usually did. The prince shifted in his seat, readjusting his shoulders and seeming to find no comfort. He rubbed at the center of his chest with the heel of his palm and subtly picked at the edges of his chest binding. From what Nori had gathered, and he had not been prying into it, Thorin bound himself with simple wrapped cloth. He clearly had a system that worked for him, it kept his chest flat, but he was obviously uncomfortable in the wake of exercise, especially having been rolled to the ground.

Nori put his story away for another time and instead borrowed a blank wax tablet and a stylus to begin drawing. Thorin's default slightly-angry expression had worsened into heavy scowling by the time Nori was done and rolled to his feet to place the tablet in front of him.

Thorin's lips thinned into a hard line. "What is this?" he demanded, and Nori could feel the prickling of sweat on his palms again. He always pushed, and if he'd gone too far this time...

"I knew another man like you, he wore a binding vest like this. It was more comfortable for him." Nori explained, gesturing to the careful drawings he'd reproduced on the wax. He could not name Bifur or that he knew the details of the vest from having watched Dori tailor a new one from measurements of the old.

Thorin looked down at the drawings, up at Nori, and back down—and he was not looking any less angry. Dwalin began to subtly move from his place at the window, putting his reading down and flexing his big hands.

"Forgive me. I'll melt it and I will not mention it again." Nori reached for the tablet, but Thorin pulled it to himself protectively.

"There are others," he breathed, staring down hard at the drawings. "How many?" he demanded of Nori.

"I knew one," Nori said, and he wished he could introduce Bifur to Thorin. "A traveler. I think he knew a few others? Not so many as the brides of Ulmo, but there are some."

"The brides?" Thorin mused, pondering a moment before nodding to himself as he looked back to the drawings. Had he never considered the alternate parallel to men like himself the brides of Ulmo represented? They were well known to be the finest of musicians, their dancing strong and flowing as benefited the followers of the Lord of Waters—their performances were always in demand for celebrations. Nori had briefly wondered if he was a bride of Ulmo in his youth, but the idea had not felt right to him. He did love music and dancing and beautiful clothes, but in his heart he was not a woman.

"How does this work?" Thorin asked, breaking Nori out of his thoughts. "Sit. Explain it." He waved at another chair. Nori obediently pulled it up to the desk beside Thorin while Dwalin relaxed against his window and picked his reading back up. Nori described the binding vest as well as he could, remembering lacing at the sides and front to adjust the fit, sadly aware that his knowledge was lacking.

"If you have a good tailor, they could help you more than I can," Nori finally told him, and Thorin nodded. He had more knowledge of these things than Nori did and was already making notes about size and fit in quick sure strokes in the wax.

"You know about me," Thorin murmured to Nori when he moved to return to his own reading, and Nori paused. Thorin's strong jaw was clenched in discomfort. "I was not sure if you did or if I even wanted you to know. If you would change if you discovered it. But you _do_ know and you have never treated me as though-"

"If you are a prince, you are a prince," Nori broke him off, seeing the question in his eyes. "If you are a man you are a man. It's enough."

Thorin's beautiful slow smile started, like the sun rising over the edge of the world. His hand only hesitated a moment over Nori's shoulder to give him a playful shove. Nori shoved him right back, and Thorin laughed.

Nori's reading was right where he'd left it, and he curled back up on his cozy cushioned couch to continue reading. Thorin turned his back to him, when he was done annotating the drawing on the wax tablet, and Nori politely did not watch as he finally readjusted himself.

Prince Thorin was more comfortable at his studies after that, and if his tailor was any good he would soon be more comfortable still.

Nori wanted Thorin to be comfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it was not clear in context, the 'brides of Ulmo' would be called trans women in our culture.  
> http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Ulmo  
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender#History
> 
> Many thanks to Sparkle and Piper for providing assistance.
> 
> As always--if I have unintentionally written something wrong; if I have been insensitive, thoughtless, or hurtful, please tell me. I promise I will listen. I do not ever want to hurt anyone.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> discussions

Nori was near constant motion, different from Dwalin's still watchfulness or Dis' happy flittering Thorin was used to. Nori was always climbing, always exploring—almost always smiling, even when he casually mentioned a life where running and hiding or being brutal in a fight were key to survival.

" _He wants to hide_ ," Dwalin noticed. Once he'd pointed it out Thorin did see how Nori would almost always look for a shadow or an out of the way corner before smiling and heading for the center of things. He clearly liked attention, with his teasing and stories, but something had taught him not to be noticed. A third son, and from a minor wife—his family clearly had not done well by Nori. Thorin could only be glad he was in Agrabah now, where his company was more than welcome. Eventually he would probably move on, travel to where there was a princess for him to court or back to Tigranakert, but Thorin made sure he knew he was welcome for as long as he wanted to stay.

Maybe being known to have a prince under his roof would even discourage other princes from trying to court Thorin.

Nori settled gracefully into the life of the palace, and Thorin was glad for his company. He was good natured and easy to get along with, and he was never still. Not even when reading in the study was he still. Dwalin would get up and move now and then, go over his axe forms or such, but Nori never stopped moving. He sprawled out on his couch to read, and every time Thorin glanced over he would be in a different position. On his belly, on his back, on one side or another, curled up in the corner, or—Thorin glanced over again and could not help smiling—sliding off the couch entirely to lay on the floor with only his legs resting on the couch. His long red hair was bound in only a few clasps today and had escaped into a halo around him. Nori stretched with a yawn and let his hands fall above his head. He looked around the study idly, his bright eyes landing on Dwalin for a long moment.

"Why are Agrabah's royal guards silenced?" he asked.

" _Tradition_ ," Dwalin signed, wrists rising and falling tied together.

"A tradition, to demonstrate loyalty and protect the royal secrets," Thorin answered so Nori could understand.

Nori mulled that over. "I know it's a choice, and you have the signing, but it seems _cruel_ ," he finally decided.

Dwalin shrugged one big shoulder, looking out the window. Thorin could have told the story the way it had been told him, a story about loyalty, protection, and honor that made it sound _right_ until he'd gotten to know Dwalin so well. Until he read the old historical records. Until he understood.

"It was a mistake," Thorin put his reading aside as Nori rolled smoothly up from the floor and perched attentively on the edge of his couch. "The first generation of guard silenced were a mistake. There had been a betrayal, a massacre in the royal house. The survivors were wary, when one of the very guards who should have protected them had given them away, so a spell was made."

"It was supposed to prevent the royal guard from speaking the royal secrets, and all the loyal guard volunteered for it, but it did not work the way it was supposed to. It took _all_ of their words." Thorin had been sickened when he read the account. "Not all of them could even write. The hand signs came later, built from the ground to let them communicate with their own families."

"If it was a mistake, why continue?" Nori asked.

"Tradition," Thorin told him again. "Parents wanting their children to follow in their steps. Proud young princes not wanting 'less' than what their parents had, no matter the cost to others."

" _Status_ ," Dwalin signed.

"Status," Thorin echoed him for Nori, "Royal posturing. 'The royal guard of Agrabah have given their words for us, how much would your people give for you?' It is status among the guards too, proving themselves. It keeps the guards isolated from the world outside, and some prefer that. Some think it makes them more loyal, keeps the family more safe, but I do not agree. I would not see it done, especially not so young. I would chain no guards to my house unwillingly."

Dwalin glanced over at him from the corner of his eye, mouth turning up a little at the corner in a smile that was both grateful and sad. Thorin's support was nothing but talk. He had managed to get the age young guards were silenced moved back a few years, but even if he was someday able to put a stop to the practice of silencing guards it would be of no help to Dwalin. It had already been done to him, years before Thorin understood. Before _Dwalin_ understood what it would mean for him.

"...was... Dwalin?" Nori looked back and forth between Thorin and Dwalin, eyes going wide. "You didn't want to--?"

" _Enough_ ," Dwalin broke him off with a sharp brush of his palm over his fist.

Thorin stood, stretching. "I'm getting stiff sitting here," he changed the subject away from what Dwalin did not want to discuss. It was a hard subject for him. "Nori, would you spar with me? I want to try out this new..." Thorin knocked his fist against his chest to indicate his new binding vest. Nori's rough design had needed tweaks, but his tailor was good and was already making another that should be even more comfortable. The vest worked well so far, but Thorin would not be getting rid of his original binding cloths. It was good to have different options for different situations.

Nori bounced up to his feet, always happy to be moving. "Think you can take me this time? Maybe if you finally beat me Dwalin will stop being too intimidated to face me?" he threw a laughing smile up at Dwalin. Dwalin snorted, folding his arms across his chest to show off their size, but his lips did twitch at the joke.

"You only won because you have no honor!" Thorin defended his previous losses, "You are full of deceit!" Thorin had gotten so comfortable teasing Nori he hadn't even thought about what he was saying. He could see immediately that he had pushed too far in the stiff falseness of Nori's smile, narrow pale face growing paler.

"You pose like a dancer and strike like a snake," Thorin quickly explained himself. "Pretty as a painting and fight dirtier than anyone."

"Whatever works!" Nori spun ahead of them to strike a pose with a smooth twist of his hips, and if his laughter was a little too sharp and loud, it was obvious he did not want to talk about it. Thorin let it drop. He needed to be careful. He knew Nori had been treated poorly before he came to the palace of Agrabah, he would obviously have sore spots that should not be prodded.

Thorin would hate to lose him as a friend because of his own incautious tongue.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> upside down

Nori's shoulders curled in as he bent to his sewing. The dead prince's clothes had been tailored to Nori's size, but that did not mean they couldn't still be better. The fabrics were lovely, but if Nori were going to be a prince he wanted the cut just a little different on a few of his long shirts.

Sewing was a useful skill, but this one was one Dori had taught Nori, not one the Genie had insisted on. Nori would never have Dori's skill, but altering a few beautiful shirts to fall in more traditionally 'feminine' lines was easy enough. It was just something Nori liked, he always had admired the look—and if he were going to be a prince and look like himself he could go ahead and finally have that. He was just doing it because he'd always wanted it and not because of the little voice that sounded like the Genie in the back of his head telling him to contrast himself in gentleness against Thorin's strength to have the best chance of wooing him.

Nori was only doing this because he _wanted to_. He shoved the needle viciously through the fabric and hissed as he stabbed himself in the finger. He dropped the shirt and shoved his finger in his mouth before he could stain it with blood. He was nearly done with it anyway, just had to finish double-stitching the seam end.

Nori huffed a frustrated breath at himself and flopped off his his soft and comfortable bed and into a handstand. He couldn't think too hard, that way. It was better. His mind was taken by keeping his balance.

Wouldn't do to let himself get soft, just because he'd fallen into the prince's grace for the moment—the Genie's little voice mocked in the back of his head. Nori slammed a door in its friendly smiling face and lifted one hand, balancing on just his right now. He breathed carefully, feeling the strain through his stomach, his shoulder and down to his wrist. It took a lot of focus to keep his balance this way, but not enough not to remember where he was supposed to be.

Two weeks, tonight he was due for check in. It was standard on their jobs, and they'd planned for it, not that either of them had expected Nori would last so long. Nori did not miss check-ins. 'Ali' was not the Genie's best because he forgot procedure, or couldn't figure out a way to slip out of the palace and back unnoticed. It would not be hard for someone with Nori's skills, he'd observed more than enough in his weeks here to be able to do it.

He was supposed to be checking in with the Genie, giving a concise report that would lay the palaces defenses wide open to him and getting new plans and orders. It wasn't like Nori hadn't done it so many times before. He was supposed to be heading out of the palace to listen to the Genie laugh about Nori's bed habits and 'Thayris'...

Nori's balance faltered and he quickly lowered his left hand to steady himself. He hand-walked a few steps before he was steady again, and lifted his right hand now to balance on his left. He could feel the dull pressure of the blood in his head from being upside down so long, but still his mind was not still.

Nori was supposed to betray Thorin tonight. He was Ali, best thief in the Cave of Wonders. The Genie saved him, trained him, ordered him. For years, Nori had been chained to the Genie. He'd expected he would be until he died, finally ordered to do something that saw him killed. Those in the Cave of Wonders were not the type that were taken in alive.

Nori was chained to the Genie, and the Genie sent him into the palace. Sent him directly into the friendship of one of the very few people who might be more powerful in Agrabah than him. Into a place where he could not reach. If the Genie could get in here any other way, he never would have done something so conspicuous as killing a prince to send Nori in his place.

Nori was supposed to betray Thorin tonight.

He did not want to, and for the first time he might have a choice.

Nori's balance faltered again. He tried to catch himself with his right hand, but it was tired too from his long use of it. His weight was all wrong, back on the heels of his palms and he could not _quite_ roll back up into a more stable position. He might seem to have a choice, but what could he really do? If he stuck to his original plan and betrayed Thorin he would be just another thief in the Cave of Wonders still. If he told Thorin the truth, he'd almost certainly be put to death for the betrayal. Exiled, at the least, and there was nowhere far enough to be safe from the Genie if he found out Nori had betrayed him.

After far too long of fighting it, Nori's balance and tired arms finally gave up on him. He fell in a controlled roll to the floor. He stretched out his tired arms as he waited for the blood to clear from his dizzy head before he stood.

There was a small bottle of palm wine provided for him in his room, and Nori smiled as he smelled it. It was fresh, harvested earlier today and only a light hint of alcohol in it yet. It would be hours still before it was strong. Even someone as light as him could drink the entire bottle without getting tipsy. Nori poured two cups of it and carried them to a low table. Such luxuriant rooms, he had as a guest of the palace. Thorin was so generous with him. Nori wished he could take some of it to Dori, who loved luxury so much and never could afford much of it.

"Come have a drink with me, you don't have to pretend," Nori offered, setting the cups and bottle down. The servant cleaning glanced toward him and quickly away, movements growing nervous as she clearly decided to pretend she had not heard him.

"You have already dusted the same vase and fluffed the same pillows four times," Nori pointed out. "Sit and rest your feet for a moment, mother. The wine is sweet."

The servant held out for a long moment before she tucked her cleaning cloth away and rather sheepishly joined him. She was solid and motherly and probably chosen for being unnoticeable. Nori pushed the second cup to her with a smile.

"Highness," she murmured, nodding deeply to him as she accepted it. She was not looking directly at him, and Nori allowed her to drink a bit of the wine in silence to relax. It was really very good palm wine.

"I have to wonder, were you just curious or were you paid to watch me?" Nori finally ventured, sipping his wine.

She looked sharply down, hands clenching on her cup.

"Paid, then," Nori decided. If she were innocently curious she would almost certainly have apologized for it. She was feeling guilty. "Who?" He did not look at her, minutely inspecting his cup, and his free hand idly fidgeting on the table top. He had a coin, bright silver, setting it to spinning and catching it. Enough money to be a temptation, not a big enough coin it would be unusual for her to have it. Perfect for a bribe.

She looked from him, hungrily to the coin, back to him, and then down again, shaking her head with her lips pressed tight closed. That she would not give away. A shame. Nori palmed the coin and sipped his wine, watching her do the same from his peripheral vision. Seeing her disappointment.

"Is there anyone else watching me that you know of?" Nori asked, the coin spinning on the tabletop again. He gave her time, did not rush her for an answer.

"...just me," she confessed, after a long pause.

"Thank you," Nori spun the coin again, "And you'll agree to tell me if you find out of any others?" This one was a harder fight for her, but she did eventually nod.

Nori spun the coin again, but 'misjudged' it, sending it dancing to tip gently off the table right beside her. It never made it to the floor. The servant looked at her hand, back up to him as though she were not sure it weren't really a trick. Nori topped up his cup and sipped his palm wine. He gave her a friendly smile as he leaned across the table toward her.

"Now the business is over, what kind of stories would it please your employer to hear about me?" he asked. "Eccentricities? ... _Depravities_?" Nori himself sounded shocked on the second, eyes widening, and it startled a laugh out of her. She was off her balance, but she _liked_ him. He was generous and funny and non-threatening. He'd had a lot of practice at it. He pushed the bottle with the last of the palm wine over to her side of the table with his biggest smile, laughing at his own joke. 'We're in this together now' his smile said, 'we're on the same side'.

"No, you _have_ to tell me! How else can I help you make up a good story to tell?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the wonderful and amazing Sparkle has provided some more art!  
> http://asparklethatisblue.tumblr.com/post/105088406863/theres-little-i-love-more-than-thorin-and-noris  
> http://asparklethatisblue.tumblr.com/post/105086922198/some-aladdin-au-stuff-mostly-dwalin-crushing-on


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> music and dancing

The sun was down, cool night air flowing through the palace and the little courtyard where Dwalin sat playing his bağlama. He no longer snuck out to the markets of Agrabah to play, hadn't in years, but he did still loved the bağlama. He still loved composing his own variations on popular and classic tunes.

He could still close his eyes and pretend he had been a musician for a few moments.

Dwalin loved Thorin, he'd gladly fight and die to protect him, but that did not mean he could not sometimes wish for another life.

Dwalin opened his eyes at the end of the song, and he very nearly did not see Nori. The little Cilician prince was very still in the shadow of a pillar. His face wore the sharp wary expression that only showed when he did not think anyone saw him, but only for a brief instant. He smiled as soon as he noticed Dwalin notice him, stepping into the lamplight. He'd done something with his sash, tied it into a more feminine wide belt that accented the fall of the cloth across his slender hips. He was beautiful at the best of times, but the effect was deeply unfair. He was a prince, and beyond that he was one of Thorin's only friends. He was so off limits it did not even bear thinking of, no matter how much he sometimes reminded Dwalin of a laughing boy in patched clothes.

"You're... You used to..." Nori's voice was wondering as he stepped forward, but he pulled himself back with a hand across his mouth and a soft laugh. His bright eyes were questioning as they swept over Dwalin, whose fingers were only still playing out of habit.

"I didn't want to disturb you. You're very good," Nori's smile was a little shy. "Could I join you?"

Dwalin nodded with a shrugged shoulder. He did not often play to an audience anymore, but it would not hurt beyond the familiar ache of wanting things he could not have. He had been silenced because he was big and strong and excelled at combat. He was chosen as suitable to be Thorin's guard because he was not attracted to women. He was expected to dedicate his life to Thorin's protection and nothing else. He did not mind guarding Thorin, he loved his prince and it was a position of great trust and responsibility, but he wanted more than only that sometimes.

But it was a familiar ache and he could handle it.

Nori did not stay on the other side of the courtyard to listen, the way Dwalin had expected him to. He came and sat beside Dwalin, cross-legged just out of arm's reach. He rocked back and forth to the music as Dwalin brought his focus back to the bağlama and the song he was playing. It was nice to play, and to have someone appreciate his playing. Dwalin might have shown off a little with fancier embellishments than usual.

Nori's never-still fingers tapped a rhythm on his boots as Dwalin played, and he sighed slightly up at the dark night sky when the song was over.

" _What now_?" Dwalin signed to him. Nori would not understand the individual signs, but would gather that a question was being asked of him.

"What song?" Nori guessed.

" _Yes_ ," Dwalin answered, one of the few signs Nori did know. The prince hummed in thought.

"You know Lamma Bada, of course," Nori suggested. As if anyone did not. Dwalin did not even need to answer beyond launching into the iconic melody. It was a beautiful song, and there was room for his own interpretations in it. Nori drummed a rhythm on his boots, and when it was time for the lyrics Dwalin could not give voice to, he was there. He was no professional singer, but his voice was not bad. His version was slightly different from the one of Agrabah, but he adapted it to Dwalin's style as he sang. Dwalin gave him space when it was time for the lyrics, and Nori gave him the space when it was time for the bağlama to shine. It worked beautifully, and Dwalin could feel the familiar ache of what he could not have in the back of his throat as he listened to Nori sing of love.

Nori smiled at him slightly when the song was over, his eyes bright. "I wonder what other songs we both know," Nori mused. Dwalin debated a few options to try, popular songs that might suit Nori's range if he knew the lyrics, when Thorin showed up.

He was with Dis, of course—her guards' protection the reason Dwalin was able to have time for himself. Nori's entire face changed when he spotted Thorin, the big bright smile he never gave anyone else lighting his face as he bounced to his feet.

"We thought we heard you," Thorin smiled back at Nori. Dwalin had never seen him smile so much as he did with Nori. Having just one friend who genuinely liked and accepted him without question was good for Thorin.

"I couldn't help it, Dwalin's playing was too good!" Nori grinned, flinging a look over his shoulder at Dwalin. It was gratifying, to have a prince think him that good.

"He is," Thorin answered, "He wanted to be a musician."

"Really?" Nori was smiling at Dwalin now, "You're good enough to be one. I wanted to be a dancer myself." Nori struck dancer poses now and then, but this time he actually danced. His slender hips, decorated with his wide low sash, swayed to his own internal music. It was far too sensuous, and Dwalin knew the perfect rhythms to complement it. His hands began playing practically on their own. He had nearly been ready to put the bağlama away for the night.

Nori adapted to his music immediately, throwing his head back with a laugh as he spun back to Thorin. "Dance with me!" Thorin took a quick step back, but Dis beside him answered Nori's laugh with her own as she stepped out into the courtyard to dance. Dis was better trained to dancing than Nori, and Agrabah's style was different from Nori's, but he adapted to her too. He fit himself beside her, asking demonstration of a few moves of hers he did not know and offering her demonstration of his she was unfamiliar with. He so easily fitted himself into any space he found himself in. Nori danced so beautifully, arms accentuating the graceful undulations of his body and the shake of his hips. There were some men who would not dance that way, using the same moves a woman might, but Nori was always so comfortable in his own body.

One of Dis' guards, Dwalin's cousins, began clapping along to the rhythm of the music, and Dwalin shared a smile with her across the courtyard.

"Dance with me, Thorin," Nori begged again. He danced beside princess Dis, but as respectfully as a brother. As always his attention was primarily on Thorin. Thorin took another uncomfortable step back. He knew how, of course. He'd been made to learn it, and that was the problem. It was not something he had chosen for himself. Maybe Nori could see something of that in him.

"It's easy!" Nori coaxed, "You just..." he demonstrated, his dancing style smoothly changing into a far more traditionally masculine variation. Now he was a demonstration of grounded strength rather than sinuous grace, motions simpler and bolder.

Dwalin saw the spark light in Thorin's eyes as it finally _clicked_ in his mind that this something he could have. Something he could take back for himself in his own way. Nori laughed again as Thorin finally joined him. Thorin was rusty, after so long of refusing to dance, but with Nori leading the way he was soon stomping to the music. As soon as Thorin was comfortable, Nori was back to his own graceful style.

They were beautiful, all three of them. Dis was as vibrant as ever in her fine silks and jewels—the perfect picture of youth and womanhood. Thorin was smiling his slow smile, confident and sure now, as he should be more often. His black hair was done into a single long braid very likely inspired by Nori's own, though longer than Nori's. Nori himself was a flame between them, the life of the impromptu celebration and the energy that held it together. He threw a smile at Dwalin in thanks for particularly good bits of music to dance to, never forgetting he was there. It was nice, playing music for dancers who appreciated Dwalin as though he were a real musician. Playing music for _Nori_ to dance to, but Dwalin could not help but notice that Nori's bright eyes always traveled back to Thorin. He danced to Dwalin's music but he danced with Thorin, _for_ Thorin. He flirted with the gyrations of his hips and a twirl of his gorgeous red braid, and Thorin smiled back at him.

The boy so long ago had danced like that for Dwalin, in the Cilician style though his hair had been longer and a lighter red than Nori's. Dwalin did not know why he was reminded of him so often. It had been a passing crush so long ago. The one was a prince and the other a street urchin, with only their hair in common.

Nori fanned his exertion-flushed face when Dwalin brought the music to a close.

"That was fun," Nori panted a little, "I'm out of practice... but it's late and we should let Dwalin have his peace on his night off."

Thorin readily agreed, and Dwalin was left alone—the celebration ending as quickly as it had begun. Nori took the rear of the retreating group of royalty, turning back just once to Dwalin before he was out of sight.

" _Thank you_ ," he signed, hand sweeping gracefully down from his mouth, palm up. He bowed slightly as a dancer might to a respected musician.

In his surprise, Dwalin hardly had the presence of mind to sign his thanks back before Nori was gone, leaving only his laughter behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Nori suggests  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRe6-JOMc4c
> 
> And a terrible quality video of something similar to how I picture Nori dancing  
> http://youtu.be/fI8g6F4UmKs?t=30s
> 
> Someday, Thorin might not feel like he has to reject anything 'feminine' to claim his masculinity, but considering how hard he is fighting to be seen at all he is not comfortable with that right now.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more discussions

The Sultan caught Nori on his way back from seeing to the white camel. The palace servants were taking good care of her, but he liked to see her and check for himself. He did like her, she was a good tempered camel. It added another layer of believability to his story. If the camel had truly carried him so far, just the two of them alone, of course they would be close.

The lie was sour on Nori's tongue.

He had not done anything yet, made no impossible decisions. For the first time in his ill-gotten career 'Ali' had missed his check in with the Genie, and 'prince Nori' had not told Thorin the truth. Nori was balanced somewhere in the middle, and he would fall eventually. He was honest enough with himself, at least, to know that he was hiding from the inevitable like a coward.

Doing nothing was easiest. The lie and the person Nori had made for himself here flowed naturally from him. Being who people wanted him to be was easy, he'd practiced it for so long. Thorin wanted a friend, and he was a good friend to have. Nori liked him.

Nori tried to imagine some way to tell Thorin the truth that would not end in execution—throwing himself on the prince's mercy. Nori had the silver tongue to spin the truth to leave himself a blameless victim, but why should Thorin trust him when Nori revealed himself as a consummate liar? Thorin had a temper, and the pride to match his station. Nori had not yet tasted of Thorin's scorn, but he already knew that Thorin did not forgive.

It would not go well if Nori revealed himself to Thorin, if he betrayed the Genie. If he survived to be thrown out, or escaped, he still would not live long. Once he was no longer protected in the palace, not even the best of Nori's skills could keep him safe from the Genie. No one survived betraying the Genie.

Nori had very nearly gone to his check in from sheer habit of fear. He did not want to betray Thorin, but sticking to the status quo was familiar, slightly less certain of a death sentence. Nori had left his rooms intending to attend his check in with the Genie just slightly late—he was the Genie's best and no one else had ever been in the palace, who was to say he hadn't come as quickly as he could?—when he'd been caught by Dwalin's music.

Dwalin had grown out of his raw-boned adolescence, matured into the big beautiful man he was now, but Nori recognized his music. He was the same musician Nori had loved to dance to in the markets, back when he was a kid and everything was funny and fun still. Before he learned how unsafe the world really was. Nori'd had such a crush on the musician, flirted shamelessly, but Dwalin had never tried to speak to him. Nori had been a little disappointed, imagining the kisses they could have shared if Dwalin were interested. Nori had not known Dwalin was silenced.

Maybe that was the longing Nori had always thought he heard in his music.

Nori had been caught by Dwalin's music and stayed to listen, to sing, to dance. For a little while he'd been the dancer he should have been, and Dwalin the musician he wanted to be. For just a little while Nori was a happy kid with no shadows on his heart, and when the dancing was over he did not go to his check in.

Nori balanced in the middle, and eventually he would fall one way or the other. It would be terrible, no matter which way he fell. Terrible, and probably deadly.

Nori walked through the ornate gardens of the palace, and he missed the bustle of the city outside the palace walls, the safety and anonymous camaraderie of too many people in too close quarters. He missed the sights and scents, the dust in the air and always knowing where he stood and when and where to hide.

The Sultan caught Nori on his way back from seeing the white camel, going the opposite direction. For once, Smaug was not with him. The vizier and palace magician set Nori's hair on end on the rare occasions Nori could not avoid being in the same room with him. Nori was still not convinced Smaug did not breathe fire. Nori smiled and nodded politely to Thrain, intending to pass by. The spy would not name her employer, but from how she spoke Nori guessed it was either the Sultan or Smaug. Possibly both, they were rarely apart. It was convenient to know which eyes were watching him, to send the right information back to whoever wanted to watch him.

"Prince Nori, walk with me?" Thrain invited. His eyes and the set of his shoulders were tired, and Nori neatly changed his direction to join him.

"Of course, Sultan," Nori smiled, matching his steps to the Sultan's. Thrain moved slowly, as though his joints ached. He was an imposing man, still.

"You have been with us a long time," the Sultan opened. Considering most princes were thrown out within hours and Nori had been here weeks now, that was an understatement.

"Thorin has been a generous friend to invite me to stay," Nori answered cautiously. He did not know what the Sultan wanted from him.

"Th _orin_? You, ah..." Thrain waved a hand vaguely.

Ah. That. Nori had not even considered calling Thorin by any other name.

"I call _him_ by his name, yes." Nori answered honestly. If the Sultan took offense at it and threw him out of the palace, it would simplify things.

Thrain hummed thoughtfully. "You came all this way to court a princess, for a chance to become the Sultan of Agrabah," he pointed out.

Nori could feel his heartbeat thick in his throat, sweat prickling on his palms. Imagine _him_ as Sultan—only he never would have been. It would have been the Genie ruling from behind him. Nori's smile did not waver as he laughed, light and airy.

"Instead I found a prince, a son to make any father proud." Nori was pushing too far, he knew that. One did not tell a Sultan how he should feel about his own child. "He is a good friend, and I am glad to count him as mine."

Thrain did not get angry about Nori's presumption, though, he only sighed as though there were a great weight pressing down on him. They continued slowly on in silence, since Nori had not been dismissed from the Sultan's side.

"A father can only hope," Thrain finally sighed. "I am not a young man, and I would see Agrabah secured before I..." he broke himself off with another sigh. "You are truly not courting? I had thought perhaps _you_..." his brief gesture with a heavy hand encompassed Nori, small and delicate and even  _pretty_ , dressed how he was.

Nori could think of dancing, of smiles and sparring and discussing history and science. He had not seen anything to suggest Thorin wanted anything beyond friendship, but it would be terribly easy to spin the truth into the story the Sultan so clearly wanted to hear. He _wanted_ Nori to be the prince who was finally courting Thorin successfully. The Genie's voice laughed in the back of Nori's head, crowing about how everything played into their hands. They were all so desperate for someone, _anyone_ , they dare not look too closely at Nori. Even with a spy on Nori, they saw only what they wanted to see.

Nori firmly closed a door in the face of the Genie in his mind.

Thrain was so desperate to find what he thought Agrabah needed, he did not see what was already in front of him.

"Thorin... will make a fine Sultan for Agrabah some day." Nori answered carefully.

Thrain's tired brown eyes weighed Nori for a long moment, "You _truly_ think so?" he asked. He was asking Nori. The Sultan of all Agrabah was asking for _Nori's_ input and listening to him because he thought Nori was a prince. Nori was only saying what Thorin had clearly tried to say for years, unheard.

"Sultan," Nori bowed deeply, "Forgive me. I do not think it is right for you to be asking me for information about your own son. He is strong and studious, and he knows Agrabah's laws and history better than I ever could. Speak to _him_ , man to man, and judge for yourself the kind of Sultan he could be."

Thrain stiffened at that, jaw clenching as he drew himself up—but only for a moment before he sighed and drooped again. Did he not even have the energy to become angry at a presumptuous princeling? He always looked tired, his brow lined, but was he _more_ tired than just the weight of his responsibilities would warrant?

Anything he would have answered Nori was lost as Smaug came into view. Fear prickled down Nori's neck, and he smiled blandly as he fought the instinct to hide.

"There you are, your Majesty..." Smaug's voice clung to the air, as greasy and pervasive as oil smoke.

"Smaug," Thrain sighed. "I will take my leave of you, Nori."

Nori bowed again wordlessly, thankful for the permission to flee. Turning back to retrace his steps yet again, Thorin and Dwalin were there, hanging back and watching. They'd probably come looking for him when he took longer than they expected. Smaug swept down on the Sultan, and Nori abandoned him—nearly running to Thorin with a laugh on his lips and an agony of indecision still churning in his heart.


	13. Chapter 13

"What was my father speaking to you about?" Thorin demanded as Nori joined him and Dwalin. His jaw was tight with nervous discomfort as he looked at Thrain and Smaug and turned quickly away to lead them on.

"He wanted to hear that we were courting," Nori told Thorin the truth, in this at least. "I told him no."

Thorin did not answer beyond shaking his head. He was grim as he set up for the game of mancala Nori had agreed to on the edge of the fountain, but Nori soon had Thorin smiling again even though he was losing. Filling the space of 'friend' was so easy with Thorin, so natural. So was cheating at the count-and-capture game. Nori'd learned the rules for the palace's specific version of mancala, and cheating was only natural after that. It was a blend of misdirection—keeping Thorin entertained and his eyes up at Nori's face and free hand, and keeping obsessive counts of each hole in each row without seeming to. Everything _sounded_ right, it sounded exactly like Nori was picking up and dropping the seeds he was supposed to. It even nearly looked right. Not even Dwalin had noticed yet that Nori cheated like breathing. He did not win every game, just enough that had they been playing for any stakes Nori would have steadily fleeced Thorin.

The person 'Prince Nori' was and the game just _flowed._ Friendly smile, entertaining stories and teasing, obsessive counting and not actually picking up and dropping where he was supposed to. It was hardly something that required Nori's full thought. There was still plenty of room in his mind to wrestle back and forth on the impossible choices he was not making.

Though, maybe he _should_ have been paying more attention to what he was doing. Thorin had been a little distracted and grim since Nori joined him, but his jaw suddenly clenched, dark eyes blazing.

"Enough!" Thorin spat through his teeth, slamming his hand down on the edge of the fountain in emphasis, and Nori's heart froze in his throat.

 

Nori's smile fled the instant Thorin spoke. That coy little grin and the flirtatious fall of his lashes as he laughed gone in an instant. His hand was frozen above the board, not yet beginning his move, and his eyes were wide as they met Thorin's. Afraid.

Thorin could not bear to see that any more than he could bear to see the same simpering attention other princes had thrown at him coming from _Nori_. Not Nori, too. Thorin stood quickly, turning away with his hand across his mouth. Thorin's father spoke to him, and Nori laughed and bowed, and then Nori behaved like... _that_. Had they decided that Nori was close enough to Thorin now to attempt to court him? Was Nori's friendship nothing but a ruse all along? It burned under Thorin's heart so he could hardly breathe.

The fear in Nori's eyes... was Thorin wrong? Had he just hurt his only friend?

"Thorin?" Nori's voice was soft, hesitant behind him. Thorin could hear the rustle of his clothes as he stood, stepping toward him.

"Do not!" Thorin spun to stop him in his tracks with the sharp one-handed sign for ' _finished_ ', palm with spread fingers toward Nori. He would not know the sign, but Nori drew back half a step. "Do not _flirt_ with me. I am not a woman!" Hard as he tried to control his voice, Thorin could hear the wavering edge of pain in it. Was that all anyone would ever see when they looked at him? Dwalin was beginning to bristle, shifting closer.

"I did not...?" Nori started, line of confusion between his brows. "I did not _mean_ to flirt, forgive me." Nori sketched a brief bow, deferring immediately to Thorin. There was no mockery in his tone, no anger. That brief fear was gone, the confusion, leaving only worry as he looked up at Thorin. "I swear to you, Thorin, I have never seen you as anything but a prince."

There was nothing in Nori's bright eyes but honest concern, no smile on his expressive face—and this was on Thorin. This was Thorin reacting on instinct and lashing out at Nori, who had never treated him as anything but a friend.

"See that you do not do it again," Thorin answered, sharper than he intended even though he had taken several breaths to calm himself. He gestured Dwalin back to rest as Nori sank back down to his place on the fountain edge, at his end of the little game board. Thorin took another deep breath and joined him. He took a moment to roughly count the seeds in his holes before he could bring himself to meet Nori's eye again.

Nori's usual bright smile was still missing, but his lips twisted up on the corner when he met Thorin's eye. Laughing at something, and for once not aloud.

"What is it?" Thorin asked.

Nori shook his head slightly, smile growing wider, but he did answer. "You _assume_ I would only flirt with a woman, if I were flirting." Nori's bright bronze hazel eyes danced with the laughter he was not giving voice to. Laughing at Thorin, a little, but not in a cruel way.

Thorin blinked. That _was_ an assumption he had. No one had ever flirted with him in any other way. Princes came to Agrabah to court a princess, and Thorin hated it. He had not considered that anyone might flirt with him as _himself_. It had not crossed his mind.

"Would you?" Thorin asked. His thoughts felt as slow in his mind as honey on a cold morning, but he needed to confirm what Nori had just implied.

Nori's laugh finally left his mouth, bright and clear. He leaned back on the edge of the fountain, a gracefully comfortable sprawl of limbs. "I like _everything_ ," he purred. "I like women sometimes," Nori's gesture was vague, nebulous women somewhere far away. He'd never tried to approach Dis that way, or Thorin would have thrown him out on his ear. "I like men," Nori's bright eyes weighed Thorin far too frankly, obviously placing him in that class before he shrugged one shoulder and looked up at the fountain. "The joining of bodies is fun."

Nori's eyes fell gently back down to Thorin and his expression could, almost, be invitation. Thorin looked quickly away. He had never hoped that anyone would want him as a man, that _Nori_ might want him that way. He had not considered, but he still did not want it. He did not want romance, even as a man.

"No," Thorin said. His braid had fallen over his shoulder and he tugged on it absently. "Even so, do not flirt with me... I have never wished to court or be courted."

"I won't," Nori promised easily. "Not everyone wants love. Some people are happy their whole lives without. Have their family and their friends, and never wish to be courted or touched. Never want to make love."

"I... I might..." Thorin wrapped the silky hair of his braid tight around his palm, dug his nails into it. "I did once want to bed, I tried to..." Thorin forced his eyes away from Dwalin, gone even more still than usual beside him. He did not know why he was talking. Nori did not need to know anything. It had been embarrassing for everyone, and gone nowhere, and Thorin had promised Dwain he would never again try to bed him. It was not fair to put his guard in that position. It had taken time for their friendship and good working relationship to recover. "It does not matter," Thorin shook his head quickly, "I could not risk..." he pressed a hand to his lower belly, failing to suppress a shudder of revulsion. That pregnancy was something his body could do was not something he liked to think of.

"Of course," Nori nodded, as casually as though he spoke of these things every day. Thorin looked back down at the game board. Nori was winning again, and Thorin did not want to play any more. He began quickly gathering the seeds up into their storage pouch. Nori's nimble fingers were quick to join him, making no complaint about the aborted game.

"I could never risk it," Thorin repeated. It did not matter if Thorin might ever want to bed a man again, he could not.

"That is one type of lovemaking you would not want," Nori agreed, pouring the last handful of seeds into the pouch. There seemed to be more words waiting behind his statement, but he did not say them.

"One type?" Thorin asked, and that was apparently the right answer. Nori laughed quietly, folding his legs under him as he turned away from Thorin. He turned his face up to the sun, red braid hanging nearly down to the water in the fountain as his spine arched in a stretch. Dwalin shifted beside Thorin, clearly noticing the way he did whenever Nori was particularly attractive.

"There are _so many_ ways two bodies can pleasure each other, without risking a thing," Nori smiled. "Everyone likes something different. Good lovemaking is exploring, asking, finding out what everyone wants and finding ways to give it to each other."

"And, what would..." Thorin bit his tongue, hating his own inexperience. A prince like Nori was allowed freedom to explore, to discover these things, and Thorin had always been guarded because of his birth. Kept.

"Well, there's how almost everyone starts out, kissing and rubbing off against each other's bodies through their clothes," Nori's voice was a study in casualness, as though this were the most normal topic of conversation he had ever heard. He was smiling, as always, but as though he were remembering pleasant memories instead of finding the topic and Thorin's inexperience ridiculous. "Then hands get beneath clothes, and things get fun. Finding out how people want to be touched, sensitive spots they like. Nipples can be fun, some poeple can get off just from that." Nori ran a hand down his own lean chest and belly. "Firm or gentle, fast or slow. Some like their hair pulled or to be pinched or slapped a bit. You can do almost anything with hands, some people never want to do or have anything else."

Thorin swallowed hard as Nori ran his nails up his own thigh, a sympathetic shiver traveling through his body.

"Then mouths," Nori continued, licking his lips. "Almost everyone likes mouths. Some want their necks sucked and bitten, that's nice, some their toes licked. Most women buck and cry out under the flick of a tongue against their pearl, men beg for a good suck and who can blame them? It feels so good, all lips and tongue, slick and soft and warm." He bit his lip fondly, and Thorin fought back a small surge of envy. It sounded so good, to get to experience that. Normally Thorin did not allow himself to think so much on what he could not have.

"And then, if you're being careful and you can't risk things, you can't fuck in the front of course. Though fingers can feel good there, and safe. And smooth cocks carved of wood or stone—I knew a woman once with a wooden cock. She had a harness, a leather belt it connected to, and she loved to fuck with that. Fucked anyone she liked and no risk to her. Of course, when she was with men, that was in the ass, and that feels..." Nori sighed with a dreamy smile. "Not everyone likes it. It takes care, slow preparation and oil for slick, but the feeling when it's done right... The Valar sing."

Thorin could feel the heat of blood pounding in his face. No one had ever spoken like _this_ about lovemaking with him. He had been educated, of course, but he had been told only of duty and pregnancy. He knew people enjoyed it, but no one had ever spoken of pleasure as though that were the entire _point_ , never of so many ways. He pressed his legs together, feeling the heat of arousal low in his belly, the throb of his heartbeat between his legs.

Dwalin was firmly _not looking_ toward Nori, flushed heat on his neck. Nori himself stretched again, settling back into his body as he turned his smiling eyes to Thorin.

"Lots of different ways. Everyone likes something different. Just have to ask and explore."

"You know so much," Thorin could not keep the thought to himself, much as he wanted to. Nori had so much more experience than Thorin would ever have the chance to.

"I made a point to explore everything I possibly could, before I..." there was a momentary flicker of a shadow across Nori's face, the way there sometimes was when he talked about the past that had not been kind to him, before a smile chased it away. "I just wanted to know everything, as quick as possible. Most people don't. Most people don't like _everything_ , either," Nori grinned at Thorin.

Thorin breathed deep, quickly looking away from him. Trying to settle himself. "This is not some bizarre ploy to try and... and..." Seduce him? Court him in this way if no others worked? "Flirt?"

"No," Nori laughed. "I promised I wouldn't, didn't I? No flirting from me."

"Good." Thorin could not bring himself to look at Nori. He gazed across the garden. "I want..." _want to feel that_ , he could not say. "Friendship. I want friendship, never romance." It was true. He still did not want songs and simpering and hand-holding and gifts, it seemed ridiculous even with his mind burning with the possibilities of bedding someone. Thorin was of course acquainted with the comforts of his own hand, but what Nori had described sounded so much better.

"I like being your friend," Nori answered, still perfectly casual. He always made everything so easy. His good nature smoothed over the worst of Thorin's prickly defensiveness. Thorin fiddled with the game board that sat between him and Nori on the fountain's edge.

"What _did_ you say to my father?" Thorin asked, changing the topic back to what had bothered him in the first place. To a topic that, while uncomfortable, was at least familiar and did not make his face decide to light on fire. He would not likely have snapped at Nori and begun this entire discussion if it were not still pricking at him.

"He wanted to hear that we were courting, and I told him no." Nori repeated. "He said he wanted to see Agrabah secure, and I told him you would be a good Sultan. Better than I could ever be. Can you even picture _me_ as a Sultan?" Nori snorted a laugh.

Nori as Sultan? He was no student of history or law, but the people would love him. He would charm them, every last one. "That is what advisers are for," Thorin said. "You would do it well."

Nori just shook his head, "I never wanted to be Sultan."

Thorin reached over to shove his shoulder at the obvious lie, rolling his eyes.

"I don't!" Nori defended, pushing Thorin back.

"Forgive me if I do not believe you, after you traveled all the way to Agrabah for the chance," Thorin pointed out. It was all anyone wanted from him. Even Nori, so easy to have as a friend, only came to meet Thorin on the hope of ruling Agrabah.

"I didn't..." Nori trailed off. His shoulders tensed for a moment, curling in, before they relaxed. He laughed, maybe just a little too sharp on the edges. His smile was not all the way in his eyes. "What do you _know_ about me, Thorin?" he asked.

"You are a prince of Tigranakert," Thorin listed. He did not know why this mattered, but he could try to follow Nori's logic where he wanted to lead.

"A very minor prince," Nori added, quietly. "From so far away no one would know of me."

"You traveled all the way to Agrabah to try to court who you thought I was."

"All alone, to someone famed for turning all suitors away," Nori was looking down at his knees, not at Thorin now.

"You never expected me to accept you," the realization hit Thorin like a blow between the eyes. In a world of narcissistic princes who found themselves irresistible and expected Thorin just needed to meet _them_ , Nori had not even hoped. No wonder he had taken it so easily when he saw Thorin was not what the song said, if he had not hoped for anything in the first place. "Nori, why?"

"I am not... I..." Nori's voice broke off. His shoulders were curling in again, but this time he was not shaking it off with a smile and a laugh. "I just want to be _free_ ," he choked out. His hazel eyes were bright with unshed tears when he lifted them to Thorin, his laughing face all fallen into lines of misery. So many little things he'd mentioned, the shadows on his face when he thought of the past and the abuse Thorin had gathered Nori experienced in his old home. His flight to Agrabah, so far away, was Nori running away, wasn't it? He wanted freedom, and Thorin knew that feeling far too well.

Thorin swept the mancala board to clatter onto the paving stones, clearing the space between them. He caught Nori's face between both his hands, brushed away the tear that fell from his eye when Nori blinked with his thumb. Nori should never hurt, or if he did he should never have to hide it behind a laugh and a smile.

"Stay with me. Be free," Thorin whispered. He leaned forward, feeling the warmth of Nori's breath against his lips, but hesitated. It was Nori who finished the motion, soft lashes falling over his eyes as he leaned up to press his lips to Thorin's.

Nori was trembling, or maybe it was Thorin's own hands shaking where they held him. His lips were soft against Thorin's. He nearly drew back to end the kiss, but Nori's mouth moved, sucking on Thorin's bottom lip with the delicate wet softness that must be his tongue tracing a line over it, and Thorin forgot all about ending the kiss. He whimpered at the surprising pleasure of it, caught off guard. He'd only wanted to comfort Nori, but now Thorin _wanted_ to kiss him. Nori's red hair was silky under his fingers as Thorin's hands slid back to hold him better. Nori's hand was on Thorin's shoulder, holding him in turn. Thorin sucked on Nori's bottom lip when his own was released, trying what Nori had tried on him, and Nori answered it with an encouraging hum.

"I..." Thorin broke the kiss to breathe, forehead resting against Nori's. He was panting as though he'd been running. "I only want to be friends."

"I can be that," Nori promised in a murmur. His eyes were dark and beautiful, so close, and Thorin believed him. Thorin did not know who else he could trust to respect him and the boundaries of his relationship the way he trusted Nori. Nori who had always seen Thorin as himself and defended him even to the Sultan, who believed Thorin the first time he was told and always made everything so easy. Maybe he could make even this easy, too.

Thorin brought his mouth back to Nori's, small kisses sucking on his lips and breaking apart again, teasing a whimper from Nori's throat. Thorin was vaguely aware of Dwalin with his back firmly turned to them, on guard—of a motherly servant beginning to approach and then hurrying away when she saw them, but in the moment they did not matter. What mattered was Nori's mouth against Thorin's, the softness of their lips together. Nori's hand moved up from Thorin's shoulder, cupping the back of his head to hold him closer, and Thorin's eyes finally slid closed all on their own.

For the moment, there was nothing else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way Thorin was taught about sex was very cis- and hetero/reproductive-centric, in the 'lie back and think of Agrabah' sort of way.  
> Nori's descriptions are still pretty cis-centric.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some light sparring

Thorin did not realize what was between Dwalin and Nori until they sparred. He knew that Dwalin was attracted to Nori of course, Nori was a very pretty man, but he had not realized it was mutual until they sparred.

Thorin had not kissed Nori for long out in the gardens. It felt good, but the last thing Thorin wanted was to rush into anything—and he was well aware that anyone who saw them together would assume a courtship. That Thorin had finally capitulated and agreed to be someone's _bride_.

He was a little worried that Nori would assume the same, but he'd only smiled when Thorin put and end to the kissing. He had just been himself, as friendly as ever and not pressing to take more than Thorin had offered him. He did not assume that a kiss entitled him to anything. Nori was Thorin's friend, and he did not behave as though a friend who'd kissed him was a strange thing at all. Nori laughed and teased and followed Thorin to the practice space when it was the time of day they usually sparred. Dwalin was with them, of course, only a little stiff in his shoulders to betray that he felt anything about Thorin having kissed Nori. His hands had remained still at his sides, saying nothing.

Thorin enjoyed sparring with Nori. Any other prince would have been given the finest weapons instructors, but Thorin had to make do with anyone he could convince to practice against him. Dwalin was brilliant to fight against, but there was only so much he could teach Thorin. Nori was utterly unafraid to fight to win against Thorin, did not hold back. His unusual style forced Thorin to learn to expect anything, be faster on the reaction. Thorin always looked forward to his matches against Nori, but Dwalin had caught Nori by the shoulder as soon as they were in the practice space.

 _"You and me_ ," he signed. The gesture was intuitive enough Thorin had no need to translate. Nori brightened, grinning sharp and hard.

"Finally," he purred.

Thorin had been looking forward to his round against Nori, but seeing Nori's eagerness he could not mourn the lost chance. There would be other days. Thorin hoped that Dwalin was not doing this _only_ because of a desire to protect Thorin from Nori, to warn the Cilician prince. Thorin sat himself off to the side while they both armed themselves with blunt wooden practice weapons. Nori had a knife tucked through each side of his sash—and probably at least one more hidden somewhere, sneaky bastard—but the weapon in his hands when he turned to face Dwalin was a padded mace on a long handle.

Dwalin had stripped down so he faced Nori shirtless, twin axes in his hands and the sun gleaming off the warm bronze of his muscular chest. Dwalin raised his eyebrows at Nori's weapon choice.

Nori often posed like a dancer when he was sparring, but now he danced as beautifully as he had to Dwalin's music. His body flexed and twisted as the mace spun around him. He ended with the mace behind him and his entire body arched and curled around it.

"You think I'd fight _you_ at close range?" he asked, laughter in his voice as his eyes swept up Dwalin appreciatively. Thorin nearly didn't catch the way Nori licked his lips. Dwalin's jaw tensed, heat on his neck.

Thorin did not think anything of it, not at first. Thorin clapped to begin the round, and they both exploded in violence. Dwalin opened with a sharp swing of an axe, but Nori was as horribly fast with the mace as he was with his knives. It was different watching Nori, rather than facing him. His calculation was obvious, dodging and slipping into the spaces after his opponent's blows. Thorin was getting better at fighting against him, and Dwalin was familiar with watching Nori's style, but neither of them had seen him with a mace before. He was high so Dwalin was forced to duck his head out of the way, he was low so Dwalin had to leap or dodge to avoid being swept off his feet, he was everywhere. He danced back and forth and around and was every bit as graceful as the dancer he should have been.

Not that Dwalin was easily beaten. He might not be familiar with Nori's style, but he was a warrior to be respected. His axe blows, when Nori had no choice but to block them with his mace, were more than enough to drive the slighter man to his knees.

They fought in silence broken only by the sharp whushing of their weapons through the air, their grunts of effort.

Nori won their first match by somehow tangling his mace with one of Dwalin's axes while he dodged a blow from the other. His mace he abandoned, leaving it tangling Dwalin's arm as he darted inside Dwalin's reach with his knives.

They both froze together, with Nori's blunt blades pressed against Dwalin's throat and stomach, lean body pressed full length against Dwalin. Thorin clapped the end of the round, whistling appreciatively, but they did not move. They were both breathing fast, Nori up on his tiptoes and their eyes burning into each other's. Thorin was across the room from them, but even his breath caught. He'd known Dwalin wanted Nori, but he had not realized it might be a mutual desire. Nori was not moving back, though, for several beats too long to be casual. Dwalin looked... Thorin did not know if he was going to kiss Nori or headbutt him, but _something_ had to happen. Something had caught between them and pulled tight. Maybe it was Nori's descriptions about how much he enjoyed making love, maybe it had been incited by Thorin kissing Nori, maybe it was the adrenaline of their first spar—but something had to break. The tension could not hold.

Dwalin's axe twitched in his hand, half closing behind Nori as if to pull him in close and tight before he shoved quickly away. His face was flushed with much more than just the heat of exertion.

" _Again_ ," he signed sharply.

"Second round!" Thorin found the voice to call out, near breathless himself after watching the two of them. He was not sure how he felt about Dwalin and Nori wanting each other. Fear, maybe, that they would not need him? That made no sense. Dwalin was his guard through thick and thin, he would never abandon Thorin. Nori... Nori he did not know as well. He had picked his mace back up and posed this time with the mace over his shoulders and his hands behind his head—all open in apparent vulnerability.

Thorin clapped to begin the second round, and Dwalin attacked far more aggressively than in the first round. Nori was ready for him though, giving voice to a breathless laugh as he dodged and countered.

If Nori _did_ want Dwalin too, how it suddenly seemed, would he not want Thorin? Thorin had enjoyed their kisses, brief as he had kept it. He wanted to continue to be able to kiss Nori, to maybe someday be brave enough to explore more with the man he trusted not to push him for anything but friendship.

And there it was. Friendship. Nori was his friend, and Thorin trusted him. Trusted them both. Dwalin and Nori were the two people in the world Thorin trusted most beyond Dis. They would not hurt him. If the two people he liked best liked one another too, it would not be a bad thing. It was not as though Thorin had ever wanted romance or a lover to keep all for his own. He fought hard enough to keep from being kept himself.

Dwalin won the second round, a rough growl in his throat as he decided to just _take_ a blow from the mace and charge through it to slam Nori to the floor. Nori fell well, at least, his mace clattering away but his knives in his hands just as fast. Dwalin was already on him, though, with an axe against his chest.

Nori surrendered immediately, hands falling into relaxation at his sides with his red hair escaping its ties all over. Thorin clapped the end of the match, but again it was as if they did not hear him. Dwalin stepped forward, one heavy boot replacing the axe on Nori's chest but not pressing down. His eyes never left Nori's as he moved the axe blade to his throat.

Nori just smiled, and it was nothing like any smile he'd given Thorin. It was fierce, hungry. A _dare_ as he lifted his chin to bare his slender throat further, chest arching up under Dwalin's pinning boot. He looked like perfect surrender, until the moment his hand darted up to press his knife against the inside of Dwalin's thigh—right above the artery.

It was Dwalin's turn to laugh, a short bark as he stepped back to let Nori up. He did not offer Nori a hand up, but Nori did not need it. Nori practically _flowed_ to his feet, all smooth grace as he picked his mace back up—what small dancer's training he had had never been so obvious.

"Tie breaker?" he offered, spinning his mace gracefully around himself. Dwalin nodded sharply, swinging his axes back up into ready. There was a line of sweat trailing down Dwalin's chest to be lost in the dusting of dark hair that decorated the center of it. Nori licked his lips, watching it, as he danced into position in front of Dwalin, spinning the mace down across his hip and thigh. He had never danced like that at Thorin. Even when they were dancing together to Dwalin's music, Nori had been only friendly. He'd made no advances, and he had always kept looking back to Dwalin. It had _begun_ by Nori seeking Dwalin out, before Thorin and Dis came and interrupted them. Nori's hips undulated, and the way his hand slid in a caress down the handle of the mace pressed across his body turned it into far too filthy of an allegory. His eyes never left Dwalin's, all challenge in his smile. Daring him to make something of it.

Thorin clapped to begin the third round.

Nori opened with the first attack this time, surprising Dwalin into the defensive. Thorin leaned forward to watch, Nori almost _never_ went on the offensive, preferring to use his opponent's moves against them. Dwalin rallied quickly, but Nori's tactics had changed. He seemed intent on driving Dwalin back. Rather than dodging he parried and blocked many more of Dwalin's blows than he had before—sent more back in answer.

Thorin saw Nori win before Dwalin did. The lost knife gambit, Nori called it. He'd been teaching it to Thorin, how to play up the 'loss' of a weapon to get an opening. His variation with a mace worked a little differently, but Thorin saw Nori 'falter' as he 'lost control' of his mace. Thorin's breath caught as Dwalin pressed what he thought was an advantage. It was so tempting to fall for it, Thorin knew that, and for all he'd seen it so many times Dwalin had never experienced Nori pulling the gambit himself. Nori did not waste the opening, knocking Dwalin's feet out from under him and flinging himself on the bigger man's back. His knife rested against Dwalin's throat again.

Thorin clapped the end of the round, wondering vaguely why he bothered. They were oblivious, the two of them. Oblivious, but beautiful. Dwalin's chest was heaving with strain, Nori's red hair escaping to stick to the gleaming brown of Dwalin's skin.

"Got you again," Nori breathed against Dwalin's neck, barely loud enough for Thorin to hear. "Now what?"

Dwalin reached back with a snarl, grabbing tight to Nori as he flung himself forward to roll them over. Weapons were abandoned as they resorted to pure grappling. Nori was quick and squirmy, but Dwalin was _Dwalin_. No one else was that strong. It was not a long fight before Nori was pinned to the ground with Dwalin's big hand closed on his throat.

Nori bucked up against Dwalin twice, still struggling, but let his entire body relax into the floor when Dwalin gave his throat a squeeze with a low dangerous growl.

"Point taken," he granted breathlessly.

Their bodies were pressed tight together, tangled up on the floor, breathing hard and staring into each other's eyes. Dwalin's hand slipped off of Nori's throat, cupping his jaw, gently touching Nori's ruined hair. Nori's eyes half-closed, face tilting up toward Dwalin's the way it had for Thorin just earlier today. Thorin's heart was stuck somewhere in his throat, watching them. Nori's lips were so soft, Thorin could still feel the ghost of them against his own, and he could still remember the firmness of Dwalin's fuller lips in that one misguided kiss Thorin had stolen so long ago. Somehow, seeing them like this, Thorin could not imagine this kiss was going to be anything like those. It was going to be fire, it was going to be...

Dwalin jerked back, shoving Nori down as he jumped to his feet. Thorin could not read the wide-eyed look Dwalin threw him. Panic, maybe? Guilt? It was too brief for him to know for certain. Dwalin grabbed his practice axes off the floor and put them back into their place before putting his shirt on. By the time he was done with that and turned back to Thorin, his face was as blank as stone.

Nori had bounced back up to his own feet, sweaty and disheveled and grinning hard. His eyes were calculating as he watched Dwalin's retreating back, but he put his own practice weapons away without comment. He smiled at Thorin as bright and happy as ever, easing a tiny knot under Thorin's collarbone. He was not forgotten.

" _What next, sir_?" Dwalin only retreated into formality when he was uncomfortable.

"That was fun," Nori laughed, ignoring the way Dwalin was ignoring him. He fanned himself with the neckline of his shirt. "I need to rinse off, after that. I'll catch up with you?"

"Of course, Nori," Thorin agreed. "I wanted to finish that treatise on the monsoons? I'll be in the study."

Nori gave a nod of understanding, and Thorin noticed how Dwalin _didn't_ watch him go. Dwalin watching Nori was the usual state of things, and Thorin did not know how he hadn't noticed that before.

Dwalin's hands were still at his sides, saying nothing as they walked toward the study.

"You should have-" Thorin started with a smile, cut off by a sharp gesture from Dwalin. They had not worked together so well for so long by Thorin needling Dwain when Dwalin did not want him to, and he let it drop.

" _Never again_ ," Dwalin signed, firm finality in his gestures, and Thorin let him be.

 

Thorin glanced up from his reading when Nori came into the study. He was fresh and clean, dressed in his beautiful clothes that only accentuated the grace of his body. Dwalin firmly _did not_ look toward him. Thorin shared a nod and smile with Nori before Nori displayed himself out on his couch with something to read himself. Thorin had never paid so much attention to it before, it was just the way Nori _was_ , but thinking about it now it certainly seemed as though he were positioning himself with a mind to how good he would look. He was not particularly displayed _at_ Thorin, though, more off to the side where...

Dwalin, reading against the window. Dwalin put his reading down and began to go over some of his axe forms. He did that sometimes, Thorin did not usually pay attention, but suddenly it seemed to him that Dwalin had been doing it _more often_ recently. And it was not as though Dwalin had been cooped up and not getting as much exercise as he liked, today.

Dwalin had his back to Nori, but then he always did say that his back was his good side.

Nori was holding his reading, but his eyes were most definitely not on it. He was definitely peeking over at Dwalin. Who could blame him, really? Dwalin was the perfect representation of what a man and a warrior was supposed to be.

Thorin felt a brief stab of jealousy under his heart, before he fought it down. So Nori liked Dwalin? Nori liked everything, he'd said so himself. He could like the kind of man Dwalin was and still, hopefully, like the kind of man Thorin was. His kisses had been anything but reluctant, at least.

Thorin tried not to smile as Dwalin went through his axe forms and Nori watched him. They were flirting at each other, and Thorin had not even realized they were doing it. He did not know how he hadn't seen before that Dwalin's attraction to Nori was returned.

When Dwalin was done with his axe forms he picked his reading back up, settling in against the windowsill. He glanced toward Nori, who was displayed out at him but was suddenly completely engrossed in his reading.

Dwalin looked firmly way, and Nori's eyes traveled back to Dwalin.

It was all Thorin could do not to bury his face in his hands and groan. They had been flirting at each other around him the _entire time_ , and they were both oblivious.

They were _never_ going to do anything about it, were they?

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> three days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so much nasty misgendering in this chapter. I'm sorry.

The casual breakfast group that had once consisted of Dwalin and Thorin and occasionally Dis and her guards had stretched seamlessly to allow Nori in. He was adorable in the early mornings, with his clothes still rumpled and his eyes puffy from sleep and his hair escaping everywhere from his braid.

Dwalin looked away from him quickly as Nori settled in at Thorin's side, guilt matched in sharpness with the familiar pain of wanting what he could not have. Nori was a prince, far beyond Dwalin's reach even if he were _not_ the only person Thorin had ever shown an interest in. Other than Dwalin himself, but that had been more Thorin attempting to prove that he was a _man_ than actually wanting Dwalin. For far too many reasons Thorin and Dwalin could not be, and Dwalin could not have Nori, but Thorin could have Nori. Nori was a prince. They could have each other, and Dwalin had no right to burn for Nori the way he did. He should never have come so close to stealing Thorin's kisses and more from Nori's lips when he had the prince pinned beneath him.

He should never have known what Nori's body felt like against his own.

Nori seemed oblivious to any awkwardness. He settled into his place at Thorin's side and sighed happily over his sweet tea before he tore a flatbread into neat pieces to eat some cheese and olives.

Thorin smiled at him, the way he would, and Nori smiled back the way he always did. It really seemed as though Nori were expecting nothing but the friendship Thorin said he wanted from him. Dwalin was happy for Thorin, that he could have that. More happy than he hurt, he had to be, or else what kind of a friend and royal guard was he?

If he'd repeatedly punched his pillow and then watered it thoroughly with salt after he went to bed, that was between him and his bedding.

Dwalin was glad of the distraction from his thoughts when one of the Sultan's personal servants interrupted their breakfast, until the man spoke.

"The Sultan fell worse in the night. He cannot rise from his bed. He is calling for you," the servant bowed to Thorin.

Thorin blanched, dropping his tea cup to fall over and spill across the table unnoticed. He was on his feet and running toward his father's rooms before the servant could even ask him if he would go. Dwalin was right on his heels, his own breakfast abandoned without a second thought.

Neither of them looked back at Nori's nervous call of "Thorin?"

 

Smaug was at the side of the Sultan's bed when they arrived in Thrain's darkened rooms, of course.

"So kind of you to join us now, princess," Smaug oozed. Dwalin bristled, hating how Thorin's hands clenched at the word, how much condescension the vizier could pack into so few word. Hating that there was nothing they could do against the magician. The fire reek of him filled the room, sickening.

Thorin squared his jaw and sat at his father's other side, refusing to acknowledge the vizier. Dwalin took up the space behind him, arms crossed over his chest and glaring at Smaug hard enough to make up for Thorin's restraint.

The Sultan did not look well. Thrain lay limp in his bed, as though his entire body were sagged in on itself. His skin was grayed and looked horribly clammy. His every breath wheezed laboriously.

"He is resting now. I was up all night with him," Smaug volunteered. "Do not wake him."

What was he trying to imply with that smug tone, that he was better than Thorin because he had been here? Thorin had come the instant he was told. Thorin would have come at any hour of the night. Damn _snake_ , Dwalin hated him.

Thorin very gently placed his hand over his father's bigger hand, held it tight. He sniffled slightly as he wove his finger's through Thrain's lax hand, and Dwalin relaxed his stance enough to rest a hand comfortingly on Thorin's back. As contentious as his relationship with his father could be, Thorin still loved him. He wanted his father's approval so badly, wanted to be seen and known and acknowledged as himself. With Thrain so obviously unwell he might never have that now.

"He's so cold," Thorin breathed.

"I have done all I can," Smaug promised. "Now we must wait, and hope."

The hours wore on, undifferentiated. Dis came and cried against Thorin's shoulder, and left again. She could not bear to see her father so weak for long. The sun shifted, shining in dull through different curtains as the day continued.

Servants came with food for the watchers, but Thorin turned them away and Dwalin had no stomach for it either. The hours of the day wore on with nothing but the wheezing of Thrain's slow breaths to mark the time.

Thorin was slumped against the edge of his father's bed and Dwalin's feet were aching from standing still for so long when Thrain finally woke again. His eyes blinked tiredly and his mouth worked, but no sound other than a sigh came out. Dwalin tapped Thorin insistently on the shoulder, rousing him while his father was awake, for however long it would last.

"Father..." Thorin breathed, immediately grabbing the cup of broth he'd been told to have Thrain drink for strength if he woke. He would be thirsty from his long sleep. The Sultan was a big man, but Thorin was strong enough to gently lift his shoulders to help him drink. Dwalin glared at Smaug when he came forward as if to help, and for once the vizier backed off. Thorin carefully lay Thrain back on his pillows, tenderly wiped away the few drops of broth that had spilled when he drank.

"My little Thayris," Thrain breathed.

"Thorin, father. My name is Thorin," there were tears in Thorin's voice.

Thrain reached weakly toward Thorin, and Thorin caught his hand as it faltered. He lifted it to his cheek himself.

"Agrabah must be secured," Thrain's voice was nearly too weak to hear. "Agrabah must not falter."

"I know," Thorin agreed. "I will do everything I can... Agrabah will be strong, and so will you. Rest, and you will be strong again..."

Thrain patted Thorin's cheek, shaking his head slightly. Even that motion seemed to drain him. "You will do your duty. You must marry. This is my order. In three days, if you cannot find a prince, you will marry Smaug."

"Father!" Thorin threw Thrain's hand down, voice choking. "No! I _am_ a prince! I have trained my whole life for this, I can rule as your son!" Dwalin had his hand on his axe handle on instinct, _needing_ to protect Thorin but there was no one he could fight here. There was nothing he could _do_.

"Three _days_!?" Smaug hissed. Smoke dripped through his sharp teeth as he loomed over the bed. "My Liege, there is no time!"

"Agrabah must be protected," Thrain's eyes closed as he wheezed. "I am left no choice. Three days. That is my decree."

"I will not marry!" Thorin roared in Smaug's face over his father's bed. "I will never marry anyone, least of all you, and no one can make me!"

"Thorin, please..." Thrain reached for him, only to collapse back with his eyes rolling up as Smaug caught his shoulder.

"You are killing your father, you selfish _girl,_ " Smaug spat back, hunched over the collapsed Sultan. "Look what you have done! Is this not what you planned, putting such strain on him all these years? Be gone before you do him more damage!"

"No!" Thorin choked out one last time. Dwalin did not know if he meant Smaug's foul accusations, or his father's horrible order, or this entire situation. Thorin spun on his heel and ran from the room, tears welling in his eyes.

All Dwalin could do was follow as guards who answered only to Smaug and the Sultan closed in to guard the room.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some music:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebNtRjyAEco

Nori leaned against the white camel, face hidden against the soft wool of her neck. She knelt, placidly chewing her cud, and graciously allowed him. She was far more royalty than Nori would ever be. None of the subdued palace servants approached him. Nori often came to check on the camel, so it was not worthy of comment even if he did not usually stay. The Sultan's beloved camels were cared for nearby, and Nori was left alone with his thoughts.

He was in too deep. He'd been in too deep ever since the Genie took him, but 'Ali' had not survived this long or become the Genie's best by getting in even deeper.

Nori did not dare betray the Genie, and he could not bear to betray Thorin. People could tell if you didn't really like them, but Nori wasn't supposed to like Thorin this much. He was supposed to play the part of loyal friend, not actually be one. That wasn't part of the con. He shouldn't have kissed Thorin, but Thorin was handsome and Nori liked to share that. He liked everything, and he'd tried everything he could because he didn't expect to live long and he didn't want to die not having experienced _everything_ , but it was always best with people he really liked. People he trusted. He had so few friends since the Genie took him, he had not wanted to resist Thorin. Nori hadn't wanted to resist Dwalin either, such strength with restraint to match it so Nori was beaten but not battered. Overpowered but not injured. He wanted Dwalin's fire. It was on Dwalin that nothing had happened. Nori had invited it, done nothing to resist it. He should have. He should have resisted them both. It would only make things deadlier when he was found out.

The spy on him, Kara, (mother of Fain and Beli, such beautiful clever children to make any mother proud) had seen him kissing Thorin. She'd reported it, too. In her distress about the Sultan and having betrayed Nori she had been less cautious with her tongue and revealed that it was Smaug she reported to. Nori had been far too incautious, kissing there in the garden. It was likely only the the 'luck' of the Sultan's failing health that Nori was not facing consequences.

He was in too deep. Trying to find a way out was like trying to climb a wall of sand. The harder he tried, the more fell on him. He'd tried to tell Thorin— _wanted_ to tell—but he was too afraid.

Nori hadn't seen Thorin or Dwalin at all today, beyond briefly at breakfast. The Sultan was probably dying, and things were going to change. If things were right, Thorin would become Sultan. Nori did not know if that would happen, though. No one knew what was going to happen, and the entire palace was twitching with nerves.

Dis he had seen briefly, crying with her guards and handmaidens to comfort her, but he had not approached her. It would not be right to intrude on her.

If Nori were smart, he would run. If he could not bear to betray Thorin, if he had no choice but to betray the Genie, he should run. He should take this opportunity in the chaos to steal one of the fast messenger camels. He loved the white camel, but she was too noticeable. He couldn't take her. He could disguise himself as a royal messenger and run for his life. In the confusion it might be days before anyone realized what he'd done. It might be long enough to get so far from Agrabah the Genie could not find him quickly. He might survive a few years. He should run. Disappear.

Abandon Thorin, when he needed a friend more than ever?

Nori pushed his face harder against the white camel's neck, and did not peel the person of 'Prince Nori' off like a second skin and begin the tasks of disguise and flight.

He was in too deep.

 

"Your highness," Nori finally looked up at the third patient repetition, realizing that was _him_. Nori only knew the names of very few palace servants, since Thorin did not say them and it would look strange of Nori to be constantly asking, but he recognized one of the higher ranking servants.

The man bowed, clearly relieved that Nori was acknowledging him. "Thorin is pacing the gardens."

Nori blinked at him. Why would he be telling Nori this? If Thorin had sent for Nori, he would have said. If Nori had asked to be informed when Thorin emerged from the Sultan's chambers, this would make sense. He had not. The servant was clearly nervous about his presumption, still a surprise to Nori—when he was a street rat a man as respected as the servant would not have acknowledged him enough to _sneer_ at him.

Why was he telling Nori this, if he were not ordered to? It was a small risk, Nori was not powerful here in the palace, but it was still a risk. Why was he taking it? Not for Nori, he was a newcomer here. For Thorin, maybe. Maybe he thought Thorin needed Nori, needed a _friend_ , and took the chance even if he had not been asked to.

"Thank you," Nori patted the camel's neck and stood, stretching the stiffness out of his limbs. The servant bowed again, clearly relieved, and Nori went in search of Thorin. He was not hard to find.

Thorin's expression was a thunderstorm, fixed and furious, as he stomped in a repeating path through the gardens. He did not seem to see anyone—not Nori standing beside his path, not even Dwalin following on his heels.

Whatever had happened in the Sultan's chambers, it was obviously not good news. Looking at Thorin's fury, Nori could see why the servants had not wanted to try to confront Thorin themselves. Nori did not want to either, it did not seem safe. Dwalin met Nori's eye as he passed by, his deep brown eyes sad and pleading. He placed a fist on his palm, gesturing it from Nori to Thorin. Nori did not know the sign, but it seemed Dwalin wanted him to do _something_ for Thorin.

He did not know what he _could_ do. He did not know what had happened or how to make Thorin even notice he was there. Nori watched Thorin stomp back out of the courtyard, beginning another round of pacing.

Nori cut him off again, a few times. He tried to talk to Thorin, but the prince brushed past him as though he were not there. It wasn't as though Nori weren't used to being ignored. He'd been a dusty street rat beneath anyone's notice and then spent _years_ working at being unseen, but today it stung. That it was _Thorin_ stung.

Nori rubbed his face, biting thoughtfully at his fingers as he watched Thorin stomp away. If polite and respectful were not working, then he'd have to try something else. He could not leave Thorin alone in his misery, especially not with Dwalin's eyes begging for his help every time they passed.

Nori nodded to himself and headed in the opposite direction. It was a risky plan, if he pushed Thorin too far, but it didn't seem like he knew how to do anything that wasn't dangerous these days.

 

Thorin jumped back with a shout when Nori's face swung down in front of his. His eyes finally _saw_ Nori, hanging upside down from his knees from a convenient tree limb. Nori was just glad he'd timed it right and Thorin had the reflexes not to walk right into him and crack heads—though that might have worked to get his attention too.

Dwalin, immediately grabbing for his axe when anything unexpected happened, snorted a laugh as he dropped his hand.

Thorin had his hand over his heart, trying to catch his breath back. He shook his head in disbelief at Nori and he laughed too, but it did not last long. It changed almost immediately into a sob. With his thundercloud shell broken his face crumpled, tears welling up and spilling from his eyes as he curled in on himself.

Dwalin was there immediately, wrapping his arms around Thorin. Thorin turned into his chest, hand fisted tight into the fabric of his shirt as he cried.

Nori dropped himself out of the tree, stepping forward to hesitantly touch Thorin's shaking shoulder. Trying to offer him comfort, though he did not know what was wrong.

"Thorin?" he tried. Thorin grabbed him, pulled him in and clung to him as he sobbed. Dwalin tried to step back away from them, but Thorin grabbed him too and would not let go.

Nori held Thorin tight, giving all the comfort he could. Dwalin's arms came around them both, sheltering them in his strength.

"What happened, Thorin?" Nori breathed, and Thorin told him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sign Dwalin uses that Nori does not know means 'help'. Using it directionally the way he did, he is asking Nori to help Thorin.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> plans

"In three days I will be married to _Smaug_ ," Thorin concluded, shuddering at the horror of it. "My father's word is law. I would rather _die_ than marry that worm, but I cannot. I cannot run from this and leave it on Dis." Thorin choked on the tears he could not seem to stop. He was trapped. He was trapped and there was no way out.

Dwalin's arm tightened protectively around Thorin, and he pushed harder into his loyal guard's embrace.

"You're not trapped, Thorin." Nori broke in. Thorin had not realized he'd said that aloud. Nori's eyes were bright and hard as he pushed back slightly, shaking Thorin's shoulder to catch his attention. Nori's face had never worn such a sharp expression. "You can still win. Laws only exist to be twisted, if not broken. It's like a game of mancala—the rules are there to show you how to cheat."

"...you cheat?" Thorin was not sure if Nori was right, it was all so hopeless. He _could_ grasp that Nori cheated.

"Always." Nori flashed his teeth in a ferocious approximation of a smile, utterly unrepentant. "Now gather your regulars; bring only your very best and most loyal into the plot. Get some food and drink, and we'll connive."

Thorin wiped at his eyes with a sleeve, finally letting Nori and Dwalin go. Nori really sounded like he thought it could be done.

" _War council_ ," Dwalin signed in agreement, smiling at Nori. Looking between the two of them, Thorin's heart finally began to lift. Together, maybe they really could win.

 

Their group was small, but Nori assured Thorin that was for the best. Just the three of them with Dwalin, Dis and her two guards, and another few of Dwalin's relatives in the royal guard. They were all grim-faced as they gathered in a circle in Thorin's quarters. Dis lay against Thorin's side, and he held her close.

There was food and drink. Thorin took a little tea only on Nori's urging. Once he tasted it, his stomach finally woke up and was _starving_. He ate as Dwalin brought everyone up to date. Dis' exclamation of outrage and everyone's furious reactions were a balm to Thorin's heart. He was not alone.

Everyone turned to Nori, who'd called this council, once the explanations were given. The horrible ultimatum that had been placed on Thorin.

"We are agreed that Thorin must not be forced to marry Smaug, and committed to the cause of helping him?" Nori asked. His eyes swept over the group, smiling at the unanimous and vigorous signing of ' _yes_ ' that answered him.

"The Sultan's order is a prince, or three days and Smaug. So we need to find you a prince." Nori continued.

"I will not give up my throne to be _wife_ to some pretentious princeling any more than I'll marry Smaug!" Thorin warned. It was everything he had spent so long fighting against.

"You are ordered to _marry_ a prince," Nori held up a hand to pause Thorin, smiling like he had a delicious secret. "You are not ordered to care for him, or consumate a marriage, and everyone has the right of divorce. You can divorce him and rule for yourself as soon as... ah... as soon as you can get rid of Smaug."

He meant as soon as Thrain was dead, but Thorin could see the beginnings of hope.

"Find some minor prince who'll marry you for convenience alone. Sign a contract, that you are married in name only and he has no claim on Agrabah when you divorce. Offer something he wants in exchange—Agrabah's best breeding camels, copies from the library, all the gold a camel can carry—everyone has a price. You can follow your father's orders to the letter, and do _exactly_ what you want."

Thorin _breathed_. While he had panicked, tangled in the impossibilities of his position, Nori had cut through to the heart. The silenced guards were smiling to each other, sharing quick signed comments of agreement. This could work. It was not the approval and acceptance from his father Thorin wanted, but it was hope. It was another path to the same destination.

"Would you do that for me, Nori?" Thorin asked. "Marry a friend for convenience?" It might be what the Sultan had hoped for, giving Thorin the three-day ultimatum, but they would do it on their own terms.

Nori's smile fled for an instant of confusion before he laughed. "You can do better than _me_ , Thorin!" he chided. "Agrabah's fastest messenger camels could bring princes from _several_ nearby cities before the third day!"

"Nearby princes are not inclined to like me," Thorin pointed out.

"There has to be _some_ who feel neutral... who'd do it for a bit of gold?" Nori pleaded.

"You underestimate the number of people I have insulted." Thorin reached over to put his hand on top of Nori's, squeeze it tight. "There is no one else I would trust for this."

"I..." Nori's eyes darted as if he might run.

"In name only," Thorin reminded him what he had only just said himself. "You'll never have to do any of the ruling, and I'll divorce you as soon as... as we can. Please."

Nori closed his eyes, turning in on himself for the space of one long breath, before he nodded. "For you, Thorin," he conceded.

The gathered guards shared pleased comments about this, except for Dwalin who was doing his impression of a carved statue. Thorin put a hand on his shoulder, raising his eyebrows in a question. Dwalin was with him through thick and thin. Thorin needed his feedback if he saw a problem.

" _Nori is the only choice_ ," Dwalin signed tersely. His sign for Nori was a combination of ' _pretty_ ' and ' _red'—_ Dwalin wanted Nori, Thorin could not forget that. They wanted each other, and Nori was marrying Thorin now, but that was in name only.

Now was not the time to discuss that, though they were going to have to.

"We're all going to have to work to pull this off," Nori continued. He was in full planning mode now, leaning forward with his lean face intense, eyes bright. "Bet my last teeth Smaug will try to stop it if he can. The key is distraction and misdirection. We keep him ignorant and out of the way. No one outside this room is told what we decided here. What are the steps needed for an Agrabah royal wedding, and how do we use them to our advantage?"

"I know all the traditions!" Dis volunteered, bouncing a bit with eagerness, and Nori nodded to her. Thorin himself had tried to avoid knowing as much as he could, but Dis looked _forward_ to someday being married.

"Good," Nori held up a few fingers to pause her. "I want _everyone's_ ideas to plan this. The more ideas we have for this, the stronger plan we'll have. If you have ideas, tell them and I'll have someone translate. I don't sign much yet." Nori circled his fist over his chest, apologizing to the guards he could not easily speak to.

 

Dwalin's much older half-brother Balin worked in the records, with the laws. After discussion, they had chosen him to witness and officiate their contract. Dwalin said he could be trusted. Gray-haired Balin's eyes twinkled as he easily accepted the vow of secrecy and began drafting up their contract in a clear hand. He helped them find the right legal language for everything.

"And what do you get in exchange?" Thorin asked, once they had established that Agrabah was Thorin's after their divorce.

"Me?" Nori shook his head, laughing slightly. "Nothing. I don't need anything."

Thorin elbowed him. "I'd pay any other prince who'd do this for me, I can't cheat you just because you're my friend. What do you want?"

"I..." Nori shrugged both shoulders, but he _was_ considering the question now. "Maybe one of the fastest camels and travel supplies?" he suggested. He would be planning on leaving, then—but he always had been going to leave again. Thorin could gladly give Nori the means to have the freedom he craved, to travel how Thorin couldn't.

"Agrabah's fastest camel!" Thorin decided.

"No, no..." Nori stopped Balin before he could write it down. "Just a fast one. I'd be a target for camel thieves if I took the best."

He would probably know that already, with his pretty white camel. Thorin shrugged and did not fight the point. One of the palace's best messenger camels and all the travel supplies Nori desired were put on the contract for Nori's part of it.

When they had what they wanted, they both signed the contract. Balin and Dwalin both witnessed it.

"Hide this," Thorin pressed the contract into Balin's hands. "Keep it secret. No one is to know of its existence unless it becomes necessary.

"Of course, my prince." Balin bowed, taking the contract and disappearing into the records. Thorin could only hope he could be trusted as well as Dwalin said he could.

The sun had set when they emerged from the records.

"Tomorrow we prepare, and the next day we marry," Nori mused, "A day before your deadline. We can make this work."

"We will," Thorin answered. He clapped Nori on the shoulder, and Nori moved closer in to him—smile on his lips. Thorin smiled back, such relief that things were going to work even if his heart broke for his father's condition. Nori was on Thorin's side, though, a true friend who'd stick with him through good and bad. Thorin pushed the smaller prince into a shadowed corner on a whim, crowding him in. Nori's smile brightened and he lifted his face up to Thorin's, welcoming the kiss Thorin pressed to his lips.

Nori hummed happily as Dwalin settled on watch, back to them, and Thorin set to exploring kissing where they'd left off in the garden. Nori's mouth was warm under his, soft and gentle until he surprised Thorin with a sharp little nip to his lip. He laughed when Thorin startled, but moaned when Thorin retaliated with the same. His hand was on Thorin's waist, pulling their bodies close together. Thorin held Nori too, it felt so good to have his strong little body close. Someday... someday Thorin would be brave enough to explore pleasure with him.

"I'm so glad you're here," Thorin whispered to him, pulling back just a little to look into Nori's shadowed eyes. "What would I have done if I did not have the finest prince of Tigranakert at my side?"

Nori broke his gaze, looking down to the side even as his hands held Thorin tighter. "What if I weren't a prince?" he asked.

Thorin kissed him hard. "Do not even _joke_ ," he warned. The very suggestion sent a knife of fear through his chest so he could hardly breathe. Everything was tenuous enough without courting horrible hypothetical thoughts. "What other prince would do this for me? Who else could plan this all? Who could I trust? You are my friend. I need _you_ , prince Nori of Tigranakert."

Nori nodded once. "I can do that for you," he murmured.

Thorin might have liked to kiss him a little longer, but Nori slipped out of his grip. With a brief bow in farewell, he vanished into the dark of the castle.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rituals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some music:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVFJ8FpBTNQ

The day of preparation started early. Dwalin looked a little worn when Thorin joined him at breakfast, and even having been up half the night with his own worries Thorin noticed. Dwalin turned his face away when Thorin tried to talk to him. Nori joined them with gleaming bronze-hazel eyes hard and bright, full of plans and energy despite the early hour, and Dwalin returned to playing a carved statue.

They needed to talk. As much as Thorin needed Nori's support now, he needed Dwalin too. He could not let Dwalin bleed out in unspoken pain.

There was no time, though. Dis arrived with her guards trailing behind her—ready to sweep them off to take care of all the little technicalities that needed attending before Thorin and Nori could be officially wed. None of it was anything Thorin had ever hoped he would experience. He had hoped to escape it entirely.

At least Thorin had Nori with him. At least Nori _understood_ , and was quick to suggest adaptations to the ceremonies so Thorin was not forced to play a part that felt untrue. Nori used their loyal guards to good effect, making sure Smaug and anyone with known loyalty to him was out of the way wherever they went.

The treasury officer, Gloin, witnessed their courting gifts. Nori had brought bracelets of lapis and silver from Tigranakert. It was fine work, even if the gift was far smaller than some had offered for Thorin's hand. Gloin nodded in approval after inspecting it, noting the value in his ledger. His eyebrows raised when Thorin brought forth a necklace of white gold with a pendant of coral for his. It was _unusual_ for both parties to offer gifts, to come forward as equals, but Gloin noted the very similar value of Thorin's gift as well. Nori smiled at Thorin as they left Gloin categorizing and seeing their gifts safely settled in the vaults.

The tailors were always going to be the bad part. Thorin had _his_ tailor, the one he'd finally found after years of searching, but the rest always wanted to dress him up as a woman. They had no choice, really. A single tailor would not be enough to make Thorin's wedding clothes in one day, and Dis assured him that it would be a scandal if he were married in his everyday clothes.

The tailors huffed at Thorin as they measured him, unhappy with his bound chest and the clothes he wore. He gritted his teeth and bore it. He could bear it, if the other option was to marry Smaug.

"We do not have _time_ to make you a proper gown," the head tailor griped, "with nothing to base it on either..."

Thorin's fists clenched, fire rising in his belly, but Nori was there before he could even speak.

"Ooh, you're going to put me in a gown?" he asked brightly. "Can it be long and flowing and have gold embroidery on the sleeves?"

The tailor blinked at him, caught off guard. "Ah... no?" he answered.

"Aww..." Nori was disappointed, before he began flinging quick questions at the tailor about cut and style and fit and fabrics and 'that blue is perfect for Thorin, but it would wash me out' and 'you can't use any reds with mine, they clash with my hair'. The poor tailor's head was obviously spinning, and somehow Nori had gotten him to sketch out and agree to clothes that matched their favorites very closely in style. They were both to be dressed as princes, though Nori's clothes were to be tailored along the more feminine lines he preferred. They would be not identical, but complementary.

The tailor was just happy to get Nori out of his workspace, to avoid his further questions and demands. Thorin had never had a quicker visit with a tailor. He bumped shoulders with Nori on their way out, and Nori grinned at him.

It was going to work. It really was.

With Thrain so ill, several of the Sultan's advisers had to witness Thorin and Nori's commitment with a ritual meal in his place. Gathering them without alerting Smaug was one of the hardest parts. Several more royal guards were recruited, though they knew only that Thorin needed them to gather advisers. That was Nori's influence again—keeping the layers of secrets all in order. No one knew more than they had to. The gray-beard old advisers had no idea what they were about to witness when they were ushered into a room. Nori and Thorin were seated ritually across a small table from each other, and did not look up when they came in. Dis lay a small tray of food between them. It should have been Thorin's mother, but another family member would do. There was precedent for it.

Dwalin stood behind them, big and square and staring fixedly into the middle distance.

There were specific steps that were meant to be taken, but Nori was right with Thorin in choosing to break with tradition. Rather than breaking it into the bride and groom parts, they both did everything. They both poured wine and offered it to each other. They both drank. They both tore a bit of flat bread to feed each other. They both cut a slice from an apple and brought it to the other's lips to eat from the blade of the knife. It was just a ritual, just a ridiculous old tradition that meant nothing, but Thorin could not look away from Nori's eyes. He could feel his heartbeat in his throat and heat in his cheeks to match Nori's as Nori delicately took the slice of apple from his blade. The fruit was sweet in his mouth when he did the same. The ritual was trust, to take food from the blade of the knife—it was a promise to provide, and they both shared it equally. Nothing was taken from Thorin, as he had always feared would be the case if he had to marry. Instead it was just Nori. It was just drawing closer to a friend.

The ritual was short, only a few bites. More symbolism than substance. They both lowered their knives together. Nori nodded slightly to Thorin, and they both stood to face the murmuring advisers. Most of them did not look pleased. There were Smaug supporters among them, but enough who were loyal only to the royal line that Thorin knew they would not dare deny what they had been witness to.

"Today you have borne witness to my intention to marry Prince Nori of Tigranakert," Thorin announced. It could not be kept secret any longer, not after all the advisers had seen. Smaug would know soon. "I will be wed on the morrow." If Thorin could have sped it up even further he would have, but the commitment had to be witnessed at least one day before the wedding. Dis had not been able to make the steps happen any faster. They needed to do things _right_ , so no one could challenge the validity of Thorin's marriage. Without a direct order from the Sultan, Thorin could not be wed quicker.

"That ritual is supposed to..." one of the advisers began.

"Can you name a single step that was left out?" Thorin challenged, and he had them there. More steps might have been taken than called for, but the ritual _was_ fulfilled. "You are dismissed." The advisers filed back out of the room, mumbling to each other. They would be going directly to Smaug, some of them.

Dwalin was still staring fixedly at a point somewhere beyond Thorin and Nori, his arms folded across his chest and his hands unspeaking today. He was so loyal he would watch over Thorin as he married the man he wanted. It ached under Thorin's breastbone to see Dwalin that way. It was worse still when Nori looked up at Dwalin with clear worry on his face, reaching out to touch him—when Dwalin cracked for just a tiny moment. There were tears in his eyes when he rested his hand over Nori's on his chest, holding him close. It broke Thorin's heart to have to interrupt them, but there was no time. Smaug would know now, and timing was everything. Nori himself said that.

"I'm sorry," Thorin murmured, grabbing Nori's free hand. He practically ran out of the palace, towing Nori with him and Dwalin trailing loyally behind. The horns were already blowing from the palace walls to rally the people for an announcement. It was almost a blessing that Thrain was unwell, so he could not give the traditional speech about giving Thorin away to Nori. They would do it in their own way, and they had to do it _quickly_ before Smaug or any of the advisers had time to organize any sort of resistance.

All the guards in the plot were there waiting already, and more they had recruited who did not know why they were there. It was vitally important that this announcement not be interrupted. Nori had laughed sharp when he heard of this part of the tradition. It was _exactly_ the sort of thing they could use to their advantage.

Thorin ran up the steps to the top of the wall, slowing to a stately pace as he came into view to those gathering below. Nori followed a step behind him, hanging back respectfully. Taking the place the 'bride' in the relationship was supposed to take. They would communicate both visually and in words that _Thorin_ was the one at the lead in this relationship.

"As you may have heard, my father has fallen ill!" Thorin had practiced his announcement-from-the-walls voice for so many years, with only the smallest hope he would ever be given the chance. His stomach was twisting somewhere in his boots and his head felt as though it might float away, looking at all the upturned faces watching him, but he had practiced these words over and over in his near-sleepless night. He could say them, clearly and audibly. He could follow his father's orders and still shape his life how he wanted, with Nori's help.

"While the Sultan rests and we all pray he regains his strength, I assure you I will do all in my power to support his great city of Agrabah! Agrabah is strong. Agrabah is proud. No one has studied our laws and history more than I have. I will strive to be the just ruler this great city deserves, with Prince Nori of Tigranakert in support at my side." It was short and simple with no room to misinterpret it, unusual as it was. There were cheers, as he had complemented the city the people were so proud of, and that was good. In his greatest fears, Thorin had imagined an immediate angry mob.

Thorin turned to hold his hand out to Nori, to present him to the people. Nori took it, eyes smiling at Thorin as he accepted the hand to stand beside him. They stood side by side for a moment, heard the cheering of the crowd—Nori said they would cheer for any spectacle—before Nori took one step back from Thorin and took one knee. This would _look_ like an oath of fealty, this is how their relationship needed to be seen. Not at all the traditional role Thorin was expected to take because of his birth.

There were gasps, but more cheers, and Thorin drew Nori to his feet so they could retreat together before there was time for more reactions. Hit fast and hard, that's how Nori had termed it. Keep it secret until the last possible moment, and stab them before they know you have a knife. He had the same brutal policy in politics as he did sparring.

Thorin was laughing when they were finally out of view, his knees faltering under him and all his nerves leaving him at once. Nori was breathing hard too, sweat breaking out all over his pale face in the aftermath. Thorin threw an arm around Nori's shoulders, and they supported each other back down into the courtyard. The guards in the plot, close enough to hear, were stomping and whistling—ecstatic that they had done it. They'd done it. It _worked_. In the morning, Thorin and Nori would dress in their new clothes and speak their vows in the final ritual. It was only a technicality, really, and then they would be officially married. Nothing could stop it now.

Dis tackled Thorin as soon as he was in the courtyard again, laughing herself.

"We did it!" she crowed, and Thorin could only echo her as he held her tight. He had snatched a life he wanted out of the jaws of misery. Nori and Dwalin were gazing at each other as if they could cling to each other with the power of their eyes alone. Smaug was on the other side of the courtyard, finally pushing past the guards who had blocked him from interfering. He was fuming, smoke clinging around him and staring at Thorin as though he would like nothing more than to burn him to ash, but Thorin could not stop laughing.

He'd won, and the serpent knew it.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one night

Thorin grabbed Nori and kissed him. Everything had come together perfectly, and Thorin was still high on his success even hours later. Dis had arranged for a delicious meal for them, with music and dancers—though the true celebration dinner would come tomorrow.

Nothing could go wrong now. Thorin grabbed Nori and kissed him because he wanted to before they parted for the night. They were right outside the door to Dwalin's room. Dwalin himself had already stepped through into his room. Nori answered eagerly, looping his arms around Thorin's neck and arching up against him for more body contact. He was _good_ to kiss, Thorin liked it, but he drew back after only a brief foray.

"Someday," Thorin whispered, running his hands down Nori's back. "Someday I will explore pleasure with you. Not yet." He wanted it so it burned, but he would content himself with his own hand a little longer. There was no one... _almost_ no one he would trust more for it, but not yet.

"Someday," Nori echoed him. It sounded like a promise in Nori's mouth and Thorin pressed one last soft kiss to his lips before he released him.

Dwalin was frozen in his doorway, dry-eyed and expressionless as he stared beyond them. Thorin left Nori and wrapped his arms around Dwalin instead. Dwalin felt so different, big where Nori was small, solid where Nori was always twisting motion. A long shiver passed through Dwalin before he answered, squeezing Thorin almost painfully tight in the strength of his arms.

"Thank you," Thorin pressed his face to the crook of Dwalin's neck, held in the safest place he had ever known. Dwalin was always there for him, always protecting him. As long as he had Dwalin's loyalty, nothing could harm him. Nori might have the devious plans, but Dwalin had _always_ had Thorin's back. "Thank you," Thorin repeated. He did not have the words for how much Dwalin meant to him.

Thorin rubbed his cheek against Dwalin's rough bearded cheek and kissed it—though it landed a little on the corner of Dwalin's mouth. Dwalin turned in toward it and their eyes met for the span of one eternal heartbeat.

Dwalin's kiss was nothing like Nori's. His mouth was hot and hard, a demand Thorin never wanted to deny. Thorin's mouth was taken, known and plundered. He was moaning when Dwalin set his lips free. Thorin chased after his mouth, begging another. Dwalin whined rough in the back of his throat as he relented and gave it him. Dwalin's big hand cradled the back of Thorin's head, pinning him in place. His kiss was deep and hard, desperation and old desire. This he remembered, though Dwalin was rougher now than he'd been that one time before.

This time Dwalin did not fling Thorin away from him in panic when he was done kissing. Their foreheads rested together, with Dwalin pulling Thorin's head so tight against his it nearly hurt. Thorin's own hand was clinging tight to the back of Dwalin's neck, holding him just as close.

Thorin could feel the hitch in Dwalin's breath through his whole body.

"I promised I would not," Thorin breathed, "and I have not, all these years. But if you ever wanted me, I would." He nuzzled his nose against Dwalin's. Dwalin held him close and safe, nuzzling slightly back as he released Thorin and took a step back.

" _No_ ," he signed gently, deep brown eyes sad. Thorin could not blame him, the punishment for a guard 'defiling' his charge was more than he could ever ask Dwalin to risk.

Nori was leaning against the doorway himself, biting a knuckle as he watched them with bright eyes. "Don't stop on my account!" he grinned, gesturing Dwalin and Thorin back together.

Between Nori and Dwalin's kisses, Thorin was drenched with desire. He could feel his heartbeat thrumming between his legs. He _wanted_... but no. Not yet. That was not what needed to happen tonight.

The kiss Thorin had hardly dared admit to himself he needed from Dwalin had not been what Dwalin needed, or not _all_ of what Dwalin needed. He was still miserable, and there was no need for it. Nori and Dwalin both wanted each other. It was plain as day, and Thorin could not watch Nori pine over Dwalin any more than he could bear to see Dwalin's heart bleed for Nori.

"Please," Thorin said, grabbing Nori and shoving him at Dwalin. "Stop flirting and pining and fuck each other?"

"Thorin?" Nori's eyes were laughing as they looked back at him.

"Tell me you don't want Dwalin," Thorin challenged. Nori's eyes traveled appreciatively up Dwalin. He licked his lips and did not argue further.

" _Nori is yours_!" Dwalin protested. " _I cannot..._ " he trailed off, looking at Nori like he was starving and Nori was poisoned food.

"Nori is my _friend_ , and I want my friends to be happy. Sort it out," Thorin ordered, giving Nori one last shove toward Dwalin. He closed Dwalin's door firmly behind them. If that was not enough, he did not know if there was anything anyone could do for them.

 

" _Mindless arrogant princeling_!" Dwalin ranted, growling under his breath to keep the tears from his eyes. Everything he wanted and could not have was dangled in front of him today, Thorin and now Nori too, when he was too raw to handle it. " _What am I to do? I cannot have you. What does he expect me to do? You are a prince and as good as married to him and I cannot even speak to you_!?"

Nori—beautiful ferocious little Nori—raised an eyebrow at him. His grin had turned toward the lascivious as soon as the door was closed, leaving them alone.

"This is an interesting turn of events," Nori mused. "Does this mean 'talk'?" he asked, signing ' _speak_ ', fingers before his lips traveling away and toward.

" _Yes_ ," Dwalin answered, thrown slightly.

"So you were saying we can't talk," Nori guessed, nodding to himself. His bright hazel eyes captured the fire of the lamplight to burn into Dwalin's already-aching heart. "Talking's overrated, though. Who needs it? We can get along just fine without. A good fuck should end with everyone wordless, anyway." His voice was a seductive purr, his movements smooth as the coiling of a snake as he took a step forward. Dwalin stumbled one back toward his bed.

"I know 'yes' and 'no'," Nori signed them as he spoke, "I know 'good' and 'bad'. That's enough to get started, isn't it? If you shove me away from or pull me toward something I can take a hint." He took another step forward and Dwalin sat down hard on the pillows and cushions of his bed when he tried to take another step back. His heart was in his throat and he wanted—he wanted so bad what he should not. Thorin had said... but still... And Dwalin had already kissed Thorin, which was enough to get Dwalin executed all on its own. He should not have.

"Would you like it if I kissed you?" Nori asked, licking his pink lips so they gleamed in the lamplight. They would not be like the overwhelming softness of Thorin's, thinner and smaller. He would be so delicate under Dwalin's hands, but he already knew the strength of Nori's body. It burned in his mind ever since they sparred.

" _Yes_ ," Dwalin's hand signed without any permission from him. He would like that, so much.

"Mmm, would you like if I undressed you and touched your bare skin all over your body?" Nori took another step forward, eyes raking up Dwalin's body.

" _Yes_ ," Dwalin signed, " _and me, you_."

"You'd do the same to me?" Nori guessed. "I'd like your hands on me, like to feel your body against mine," he purred, taking another step forward. Dwalin leaned back away, breath catching in his throat in a whine. He lay against the cushions of his bed with Nori standing above him.

"Would you like it if I sucked your cock?" Nori asked, eyes lazily caressing the groin of Dwalin's pants before traveling back up to his face.

" _Yesyesyes_ ," Dwalin's body trembled at the thought, " _and me, you_."

"I'd love that," Nori breathed through his teeth, crawling up over Dwalin on the bed but not touching. Dwalin could feel the heat of Nori's body just above him, the weight of him shifting the cushions beneath him, but not touching. Nori's brilliant hazel eyes were inescapable. His breath burned against Dwalin's lips.

"And if I like your cock, if it feels good in my mouth and I want more of it, would you let me fuck myself on it?" Nori breathed, "Oil you up and take you as deep inside me as anyone can go?"

Dwalin's arms closed around Nori, a quick heave all it took to flip them so Nori was pinned beneath Dwalin in the cushions. His entire body arched in encouragement, rutting against Dwalin as he finally kissed all the beautiful words out of Nori's mouth. Nori had none of the restrained gentleness he displayed in those kisses Dwalin could not help but see him share with Thorin. He was all teeth, answering all of Dwalin's pent-up desire with his own. There was nothing yielding in him. He was so small in Dwalin's arms, crushed beneath him, but the furthest thing from weak.

Dwalin held Nori, stroked him, ground down on him and touched everything he was not supposed to have. It could not really be right, but Nori wanted him back and Thorin had given him this chance and he would take it.

He hardly realized he was tearing at Nori's clothes, trying to get at him, until Nori stopped him with a warning hiss. Dwalin drew back, and Nori shrugged out of his shirt fast as thought to sprawl across Dwalin's cushions. He was all pale skin in the lamplight, unfreckled where the sun never saw him. He was so delicate but the strong cords of his muscles were visible beneath his skin. He was so strong for his size, and he _knew_ he was beautiful. He pulled his braid up over his shoulder to trail the red strands across his smooth chest.

"Yours off too," Nori requested breathlessly before he let Dwalin touch him again. Dwalin flung his shirt viciously across the room and tackled Nori back into the cushions. The heat of his skin felt so good against Dwalin's, his clever hands were everywhere. Dwalin pinned him down squirming and moaning in encouragement, kissed his slender neck and the sharp angle of his jaw and fought the desire to suck and bite his marks into Nori's pale skin.

Dwalin groaned breathlessly when Nori found his nipple to tweak. They always had been sensitive, and Nori laughed against his lips when Dwalin's body bucked into it. Dwalin kissed him harder for it, which Nori only found encouraging. He was relentless, pulling and rolling Dwalin's nipple beneath his fingers until it crossed into _too much_ and Dwalin had to break away to breathe. Nori grinned up at him in bright-eyed challenge.

"Oh, you're fun. I haven't got much in mine, I'm always jealous. I'd play with you forever." Nori stretched out, displaying himself for Dwalin. Dwalin buried his big fingers in the silky strands of hair at the back of Nori's head, and he'd have kissed him again if another thought hadn't struck him. Dwalin moved upward over Nori, bringing the neglected side of his chest up to Nori's face.

True to his word, Nori could take a hint. He immediately leaned up to suck Dwalin's nipple into the soft heat of his mouth. His lips and tongue were every bit as clever as his fingers had been, soft and warm and pulling Dwalin's nipple into a sharp point of pleasure. Nori shocked a startled groan from Dwalin's throat when he gently bit, just teasing at the end of Dwalin's nipple with the sharpness of his teeth.

"You like that," Nori gasped briefly as Dwalin moved to offer him the opposite side of his chest again. "Ought to pierce them, get a little gold to put my teeth in..." Dwalin's hand clenched on the back of Nori's head and he pushed down harder with his chest, near crushing him. Nori moaned and continued sucking. It was wonderful, perfect. The pleasure glowed through Dwalin's entire body, so easy to lose himself in and forget everything else. For an eternity nothing existed but Nori's mouth, his quiet moans, his lips and tongue and the delicate bright danger of his teeth on one nipple and then the other, his hands stroking Dwalin's body.

Dwalin hardly even realized Nori had untied his sash and loosened his smallclothes until his warm nimble fingers closed on Dwalin's stone-hard cock.

"I love this, I'd suck you all night—until your nipples are aching tender. Can you finish from it, or should I suck on something else?" Nori gave Dwalin's cock a little tug and squeeze, offering. It sounded so good... but if Dwalin was having Nori, he'd like to _have_ him. He'd hardly done anything with him yet.

Dwalin kissed Nori again, then untied the prince's sash and pulled his pants and smalls off him to leave him bare. And Nori _was_ bare, with not even a single hair at the juncture of his thighs. His cock stood proud from smooth unblemished skin. Dwalin traced it curiously with a fingertip, so soft with no hint of stubble. Nori shivered under the attention.

"Isn't it nice?" Nori arched his hips up to display himself shamelessly, cupping his cock and stones in his hands. "Pull the hairs out with sugar paste so I'm always smooth and clean."

Dwalin dropped his own loosened clothes to the floor and returned to Nori. He'd never been with a hairless lover, though he'd heard of the practice. He touched the soft skin of Nori's hairless mound again, and Nori sprawled himself out invitingly, his sounds only encouraging.

On a whim Dwalin pressed his face to it, rubbed his nose and rough-bearded cheeks against all that softness—Nori's cock and stones, traced along the crease of his thigh with his tongue, tasted the light salt of his clean skin. Nori was bare and exposed to him, and Dwalin took full advantage. Nori gasped and whined, rutting up against him. His pale skin was flushed and reddened with the scratch of Dwalin's beard when he looked back up. Nori's bright eyes shone back.

"You like, then?" Nori grinned. Dwalin did not deem it needed more answer than to drag his cheek up Nori's cock again and lip gently at the foreskin.

"Oh, yes...." Nori hissed, "Yesyes, Dwalin _please_..." Nori's hands petted Dwalin's head, encouraging, but he took his time. He wanted to _enjoy_. He played with Nori's stones and teased with his tongue at just the edges of his foreskin until Nori was thrashing before he took him into his mouth. He pulled the foreskin back and licked hard and rough at the head of his cock, relentless after the long tease. Nori's head punched back in the cushions, muscles flexing across his lean body as his words finally lost coherence. He praised Dwalin's tongue in the song of the Valar as though it was divine enough to need singing specifically. Dwalin played with Nori, sucked his cock and stroked him all over—taking a perverse pleasure in rubbing his bearded cheeks harder against the insides of his thighs. Marking him where no one would see, but Nori would know. He would feel the tenderness from Dwalin's beard and remember who he'd been with.

Even if it was only once.

Dwalin did not suck Nori so as to get him off, too lightly for that. Just playing. He loved it, but it was not what he wanted most. Nori had suggested Dwalin fuck him, and being that close to him sounded good. Dwalin slid his hand down from the Nori's stones to press two big fingers into Nori's crease in question.

Nori spread his legs wider, opening for him. "Oooh, yes," he groaned from somewhere deep in his belly, "I... I should be clean. Do you have slick?"

He did, but it was in his little washroom. Dwalin huffed in irritation as he abandoned Nori to go grab it. Nori had rearranged himself on the cushions when he returned, sprawled out like the cocky little princeling he was. Dwalin lifted his legs to shove a towel under his hips to protect the bedding from the oil and gave his ass a swat for good measure. Nori laughed, and Dwalin kissed the sweetness from his lips to keep for his own.

Dwalin had not fucked anyone in a long time, did not often have the opportunity, but he did remember the technique. He oiled his fingers carefully, pressing and teasing gently at the furled muscle of Nori's entrance to warm it before he pressed slowly inside. He wanted to hold Nori, wrap himself around him and feel every whimper and tremble of pleasure pass through his beautiful little body. Nori held him as close, stroked his back and played with his cock. Nori might keep himself hairless with sugar paste, but he did not seem to mind Dwalin's hair at all. He teased at Dwalin's hair, tweaked his curls to make him growl and laughed.

Nori's body yielded quickly to Dwalin's fingers, as experienced as he'd said or just naturally easy to relax.

"I'm ready for you, whenever you like," Nori breathed, and Dwalin rolled them over so Nori was atop him. He ground his fingers in Nori one last time to make him moan before he slipped them out and set him free. He wiped his fingers on the oil towel and tossed it aside while Nori grinned down at him.

"You like me on top?" Nori poured a trickle of cold oil on Dwalin's cock to make him twitch, grinning hard. He raked his nails down Dwalin's chest and belly before he took his cock in his gentle hand to spread the oil. "I'll ride you like a stolen camel." He licked his lips, and Dwalin bucked up against him. Impatient and unable to just _say_ what he wanted already.

Nori laughed again and moved himself into position. He took his time taking Dwalin in, riding down slowly on him with little thrusts. He whined and squirmed, whimpers growing louder and sharper as he worked Dwalin deeper into the hot oil-slicked depths of his body. His narrow face was crumpled, and Dwalin could not tell anymore if his sounds were of pain or pleasure once he'd worked himself all the way down. It felt so good, so smooth and hot and tight, and he could not tell if it was good for Nori too. A prince would not do anything he did not like, would he? But Dwalin could also see Nori's scars and remember his talk of a life where he was used to pain and casual cruelty.

Dwalin touched Nori's cheek gently, stroked his shoulder until Nori's wide-pupiled eyes finally focused on Dwalin's face.

" _Good_?" Dwalin asked. He had to know and he could not tell.

Nori laughed breathlessly, body clenching down on Dwalin's cock as he did. " _Good_ ," he signed back, " _Good, GOOD_!" his motions grew huge and extravagant, giggling. Dwalin could not help laughing with him, relief and pleasure.

Nori flopped down on top of him, kissing his laughing mouth. "I love your laugh," he whispered. Dwalin kissed him back, nip of teeth and chasing tongue; stroked his back from the rough-scarred shoulder Nori twitched away from down to his ass spread wide for Dwalin.

Nori sat back up, biting his lip with a whimper as he lifted himself and dropped down hard on Dwalin's cock. Nori moved Dwalin's hands to his slender hips, perfect to hold on to, flushed skin paling around the press of Dwalin's fingers.

"Now, fuck me Dwalin." Nori's eyes were all bright laughter and challenge, and Dwalin was never one to back down.

For one night he had Nori, and he was going to _use_ it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I've been sitting on the events of this chapter since I started.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> should have

Nori should not have fallen asleep with Dwalin. It was not the smart thing to do. Smartest thing to do would have been not to bed him. Nori didn't want that, so the next smartest would have been to tumble him quick and go back to his own rooms before anyone noticed he wasn't where he was expected to be.

Instead, Nori woke up curled against Dwalin's warm side in his comfortable nest of blankets and cushions. He smiled as he stretched out, feeling the _best_ sort of ache in his body. Dwalin was every bit as good as Nori had hoped and dreamed. There were faint fingertip bruises along Nori's hips, the insides of his thighs pink from Dwalin's beard, and a bite mark on his pec just above his heart. His hair was just ruined, Dwalin had stroked and played with it until they fell asleep—and this after a thoroughly satisfying fuck and then touching and playing with Nori until he could get up for a second round. Dwalin's recovery was a bit longer than Nori's, but he'd seemed more than happy to hold Nori tight and get him off with gentle strokes from his big rough hands.

After that, the last thing Nori was capable of was rational thought. After he cleaned up in Dwalin's little washroom and gathered his scattered clothes together, he'd relented to Dwalin's pleading eyes and small welcoming gesture and happily crawled back into bed with him to be cuddled to sleep. He should have gone to his own room. He shouldn't have ever been naked with Dwalin in the first place. Nori had kept it out of sight, of course, but Dwalin had _touched_ the thief brand on the back of Nori's shoulder. Dwalin had accepted Nori's dismissal that it was just a scar from a reckless childhood with sadness in his deep brown eyes. He'd pressed a kiss to his palm and brushed it across the brand, and left it alone.

There were thieves who carved the brand off, or burned it over. Nori never had. It had been painful enough the first time, and any scar of that size in that place marked a thief just as surely as the brand did.

He should have.

The smart thing when Nori woke up would have been to sneak out of Dwalin's bed without waking him, get dressed, and go. He knew he should, but he was warm and sleepy and comfortable. He didn't seem to know how to do the smart thing anymore, not since he'd come into the palace of Agrabah. He should have been worried about having betrayed the Genie so publicly, showing himself as Thorin's subordinate spouse, after having missed every check in he was supposed to go to. He should have worried about the position he'd put himself in, trapped playing the part of Prince Nori until Smaug could be gotten rid of. He should have planned his escape with the fast camel he would earn with his divorce—try to find a place to go so far away the Genie would never find him.

Instead, Nori cuddled in closer to the warm strength of Dwalin's side. He stroked the soft v of hair that graced the center of Dwalin's broad chest, followed it down to his belly—muscles lax with sleep—and back up to his chest. Dwalin made a soft rumble when Nori stroked his pec, brushing ever closer toward his sensitive nipple. His eyes were barely open when Nori glanced up, warm and sleepy. Dwalin grabbed Nori and hauled him up to lie on top of him. Nori did not resist it, laughing slightly. He was in bed with one of his oldest crushes, who happened to be a wonderful lover. He could feel the tenderness on the insides of his thighs spread wide around Dwalin's body. Dwalin purred a small approving sound as he stroked Nori's back and hips, slow and affectionate. Nori loved his big hands, his strength. He lay on Dwalin's chest and wallowed in it, feeling small and beautiful and desired and _safe_. Nori could feel Dwalin's cock coming to life under him. Apparently a good night's sleep had it ready to go again. Nori squirmed against it, and Dwalin groaned, hands clenching on his back. Nori levered himself up with a grin to see Dwalin smiling back at him.

"Hmm, should we finish the night the way we started it?" Nori asked, rutting down against him.

" _Yes_ ," Dwalin signed briefly. He grabbed Nori's face and pulled him down for a kiss as he thrust back up. His mouth was warm and gentle, sleepy kisses that slowly turned deeper as he finished waking up. Nori squirmed to reposition himself and broke from the kiss to sit up on Dwalin's lap. He reached down between them to stroke Dwalin's thicker cock along with his own—enjoying the smooth soft skin and hard heat of it against his. They looked good together, Dwalin's solid size and strength beneath Nori's paler thighs. Dwalin's hand joined his briefly, stroking their cocks together before moving to explore the marks he'd made and the sensitivity of Nori's hairless groin. The unusual color of his body hair was harder to disguise than the hair on his head, but Nori had to admit he liked the soft sleek smoothness of his body when it was all freshly depilated. He wouldn't have kept it up otherwise, when he wasn't trying to disguise his red hair. As many lovers liked his hairlessness as were put off by it, and Nori was glad Dwalin was among the first.

"What shall I do with this?" Nori purred, giving Dwalin's cock an extra squeeze. "Shall I grease you up and ride you again? I'm still tender, I can still _feel_ you in me. I'd be so sore after, but it'd feel so good. You could send me limping to my own wedding, would you like that?" Nori asked, watching the heat of a flush climb down Dwalin's face and clear to his chest. He'd certainly enjoyed marking Nori last night, though he'd been careful not to do it where it would show. Dwalin's throat worked in a groan he hardly gave voice to. His hand curled into a fist and knocked just slightly against Nori's side, a whisper of ' _yes_ ', though he could not meet Nori's eyes for it. "You would like that, wouldn't you? See me married to Thorin with your seed still inside me..."

Nori should never have let himself feel safe in the palace. He should never have let himself be so distracted by Dwalin he was not perfectly aware of his surroundings.

His lapse was unforgivable. Nori didn't know there was anything wrong until palace guards loyal to Smaug kicked down Dwalin's door, and by then it was already far too late to run or hide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I give you a chapter written in the car driving through frozen wastelands.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> discovery

Thorin left off fiddling with the set of his sword on his hip with his new clothes when he heard the commotion. He strode out of his rooms to be confronted by a dozen royal guards, holding Dwalin and Nori. They were barely dressed—Dwalin in just his pants, holding them up with one hand since he did not have a sash, Nori a little more dressed in pants, sash, and a single boot. Dwalin was 'held' with just a guard on each side touching his arms, while Nori was fighting all three guards holding him with his entire lean body.

"I can explain!" Nori gasped, twisting in his captor's arms. "I can explain!" The horrible desperation in his eyes was matched by the fear and confusion in Dwalin's.

"Let them go!" Thorin ordered, heart in his throat. They could not punish Nori and Dwalin for what Thorin had told them to do, as unconventional as it was. "I said _let them go_!" Thorin repeated, louder, when the guard ignored him. "They have done nothing wrong!"

"How terribly humiliating for you; utterly unable to hold the interest of your suitor," Smaug's voice oozed from behind Thorin. He spun, stepping back from the magician's fire-reek, his leering face. "Betrayed by your betrothed and your loyal guard, on the very morning of your wedding."

"Be silent you slug," Thorin spat. "Do you think I care what pleasures they take? I would marry Prince Nori this day if he'd bedded the entire palace!"

"Take a good look at your ' _prince_ ' Nori," Smaug chuckled smoke through his sharp teeth, gesturing to his guards. Nori screamed as his arms were twisted behind him and he was forced to his knees and further down to the floor. "That scar on his shoulder is Agrabah's own thief brand. Your precious prince is actually Ali, a common thief and con!"

There was no denying the brand seared into the muscle on the back of Nori's shoulder. There was nothing else it could be, and the solid earth shifted beneath Thorin's boots to leave him in sinking sand. An Agrabah thief. A con. Thorin's _friend_ and it wasn't real. Everything Nori was and everything they had done was false. It was all just an act, it was all a lie to get to the throne. The only thing anyone had ever wanted Thorin for, and now Nori too.

"You _lied_ ," Thorin breathed.

Nori—or was it Ali?—looked up at him from near the floor, craning his head back painfully against the guards pinning him. The whites showed all around his brilliant bronze-hazel eyes.

"The prince was a lie, but nothing else I swear." his voice had dropped the light-tongued accent of Cilicia so he was just plain, common Agrabah streets. "I never wanted to hurt you Thorin, I can explain!"

"Silence! Get him out of my _sight_." Thorin backed away from the man he'd thought was his friend. The man who'd _used_ him so skillfully he'd not even realized it, had nearly _married_ him. Thorin's stomach twisted of it—it was just as well he had not eaten breakfast for nerves, he might have lost it. Nori screamed around the cloth as a gag was forced between his teeth, and Thorin turned his eyes away.

"Execute them both," Smaug ordered, disgusting eager pleasure in his voice. Nori screamed through his gag again, kicking out from his guard and actually escaping one of their holds briefly before being subdued by the other two.

" _I did not know. On my life I did not_!" Dwalin jerked his arms away from his hesitating captors to sign. They did not want to kill one of their own, but they were still obedient to Smaug. They grabbed him rougher than before, silencing his hands. Dwalin's eyes begged Thorin. The only person in the world Thorin could trust beside Dis and Smaug would _happily_ see him killed.

"No!" Thorin ordered, glaring Smaug down with his heart in his throat. "You will not execute them. Not Dwalin."

"Dwalin is _obviously_ in league with the thief, lovers as they are. He cannot be trusted." Smaug countered.

"Dwalin is my guard and mine alone. He did nothing wrong. You cannot take him from me." Smaug could not take Dwalin from Thorin. He could not. If nothing else in the world was true, Dwalin protected Thorin. He'd sworn to it beyond his oaths as a royal guard. If Thorin were forced to marry, Dwalin had sworn he would protect him with his life—even from his husband. So long as Thorin had Dwalin, he could not be hurt.

"Oh, princess..." Smaug oozed, sharp-toothed smile sliding into a leer. "Do not underestimate how much I will be taking from you. As your father ordered, tomorrow you and I will be wed." He reached out as though to touch Thorin's cheek with his long claw-tipped fingers.

Thorin's sword was already in his hand, a perfectly practiced swing that would have cut Smaug down if he weren't so horribly fast darting back, faster even than Nori. Thorin snarled wordlessly, pursuing. He would rather die fighting, and he had the advantage. Smaug might be fast, but he was unarmed. In his periphery, Thorin noticed Dwalin begin to fight his guards in earnest for the first time—Nori still fighting his own three. They did not matter, Thorin's focus was all on Smaug, slit-pupiled eyes wide as he retreated and dodged Thorin's attacks.

It was only a matter of time until Thorin got him. He dared to hope. Against all odds, despite how often his life had shown him of the treachery of hope, he dared to hope that he would defeat Smaug. He fought with all the skill he had and hoped until the magician raised his hand and clenched his fist on a flash of red fire.

Dwalin screamed.

It was the most horrible sound Thorin had ever heard. Wounded animal pain, a high broken shriek that should not have been able to come from a grown man's throat.

There was a stillness in the wake of it. Dwalin had fought free of the guards who held him but now collapsed to his knees, clutching his throat. The rest of the royal guards were staring at Smaug in fear. Even Nori had stopped fighting for an instant, pale face furious under all his wild crusader hair, gag clenched tight in his teeth.

Thorin spun back to Smaug to run him through, with yet more reason for it.

Smaug dodged and Dwalin screamed again with another flash of fire from the magician's hand.

"Drop your sword," Smaug ordered. "Or shall I give him another? How many do you think he could survive? How little is his life worth to you?"

Thorin hesitated, eyes traveling from the horrified guards backing away, to Dwalin, to Smaug. If he could kill Smaug fast enough...

"Hold them!" Smaug snarled at his guards, "Or have you forgotten who burned your voices away? I could sear them out again easy as thought!" He turned his baleful gaze on Thorin, sharp teeth bared. "Drop your sword or I will burn Dwalin's throat out where he sits!"

" _No_." Dwalin was shaking on the floor, his breath coming in broken shuddering gasps, but he still managed to sign weakly. " _Do not_." His eyes begged Thorin. He was so loyal, wiling to die in agony to give Thorin the chance to fight Smaug.

The clatter of Thorin's sword on the stone floor echoed like the ringing of a death bell. What choice did he have?

"Still a weak, sentimental woman after all, princess," Smaug taunted. "I see Dwalin will be useful. He will live so long as you behave yourself, how is that for a betrothal gift?" Thorin could feel the bile of horror in his throat, hands clenching on his sides as he tried to force air into his reluctant lungs. Smaug sneered his victory as he turned to his frightened guards, "Chain Dwalin up in the dungeon. As for 'prince' Ali—make sure his body is never found."


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> execution

Nori fought.

He fought with everything he had, and it was not enough. He might be good enough to beat Dwalin in a sparring match, but against so many fully trained guards unafraid of hurting him, he had no chance. His hands were tied behind his back. He was blinded with a hood over his head so they did not have to see his face, so he could not be recognized, and so he could not see what the silenced guards were saying with their hands. Not that he could understand much sign, yet, only enough to get into Dwalin's bed.

Only enough to get himself killed.

Nori was a dead man, he'd known it since the Genie took him. It had been sure when the Genie sent him into the palace, and inevitable once Nori betrayed the Genie. He was a dead man, and he did not want to die.

He should have run when he had the chance. He shouldn't have agreed, against all survival instincts, to try to help Thorin. He shouldn't have indulged his desire for Dwalin.

Shouldn't and shouldn't and shouldn't and now his death had finally caught up with him.

Nori was dragged, fighting, through corridors he did not know. He was taken to his death with Thorin's kisses still on his mouth and the horrified betrayal he'd known he would see on Thorin's face when he found out how Nori had lied. He was taken to be executed with the feel of Dwalin still inside him, love marks still aching in his skin. He was taken to kneel over no executioner's block, so he was not to be beheaded. He was not made to eat or drink anything, or cut or pierced with anything, so he was not to be poisoned. They might chose to abandon him out in the desert without supplies, let the sun and sand do the dirty work for them, but they were not taking him toward the camels.

Drowning. Nori stilled as he heard the soft lapping of the current and smelled the cool muddy scent of the river. This was a quiet counter-coup Smaug was throwing, even quieter than the coup Nori had organized for Thorin. Nori's legs were chained together, chained to something heavy by the grunt of the guards who picked it up. He had a momentary thought in his panic about how expensive it was to use a good chain and block to kill someone. Price would not be a consideration for Smaug and the palace guards the way it was for street criminals. Drowning was a good way to get a body out of the way. By the time the joints gave way and the feet fell off to let a body bob to the surface, the face would be unrecognizable from rot and the nibbling of fishes, and the current would carry the body away downstream. If they truly wanted to make Nori's body unrecognizable, they'd have taken his clothes too, but he apparently was not worth the trouble. Why should he be, street criminal that he was? He was nothing to the palace. He was no one. Only Dori and Ori would miss him, and they would never know.

Nori held still, listening to the quiet splash of the river's current. He could feel his heart shuddering in his throat, his bruised body shaking, the spit that ran down his chin from the rough gag forced between his teeth. He could hear the terrified whine in the back of his throat at every deep breath, trying to get as much air as possible into his body while there was still air to breathe. He could see nothing through the hood that covered his face.

Nori was carried out on echoing wood far above the water, a secret pier just for the purpose, most likely. He was held by his shoulders and feet and on the third swing—the third click of one of the guard's tongues—he and the block were flung out over the water.

He did not scream as he hit the cold water, and the block dragged him under. He did not waste his final breath of air.

 


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> plan

Nori did not scream as the chain and block dragged him under the cold water. He did not waste his final breath of air.

The Genie saved him.

Nori was not useful without useful skills. The Cave of Wonders wanted only the best. Nori could pick a lock faster than he drowned, the Genie had made sure of it. This wasn't the first lock he'd picked with his head under water, learning to pick faster and under pressure, though he'd never hoped to have to use the skill like this. He stopped fighting as soon as he heard the lap of the water and knew he was to be drowned—giving the guards no reason to hit him over the head before they threw him in, trying to get as much air as he could and slow his racing heart.

As the murky water closed over his head, Nori was already reaching into the boot he'd fought so hard to have the chance to get onto his foot as he was captured. He'd expected to be locked away more than to be summarily executed. He'd expected to be breaking out of prison, not this, but he could adapt. Nori had his picks in his hand and had found the lock already by the time the block hit the muddy river bottom. The lock binding his ankles was big and simple, cheap and easy to pick, or he'd never have managed it in time.

Nori slowly let sips of air out of his aching lungs, concentrating on slowing his racing heart, saving his air—focusing on the feel of his picks in his fingers, the tumblers of the lock yielding to his skill.

Instinct would be to swim _up_ the moment the chain fell free of his ankles, his body _wanted_ to float up, but Nori fought it. He let go a big bubble of air and shimmied his legs through his bound hands so they were in front of him. He tore the hood from his head as he frog-kicked his way _downstream_ , following the deepest current. The hood he held onto, he could not have it bobbing to the surface to give him away. He did not dare breathe out any more now, did not give himself away with a trail of bubbles. That much he knew.

'Escape by water' was something the Genie thought Nori should know. Nori swam downstream until his lungs ached, until he _had_ to have air, and a little longer, before he headed to the surface. The panicked need to _breathe_ was clawing up his throat, but Nori did not break the surface with a wild sputtering gasp for air through his gagged mouth. He rose gently, floating up with his head lifted so only his mouth and nose broke the surface. He breathed in through his nose, long and slow—breathed out again, in once more, and dove under the concealment of the murky water. He heard nothing. If he'd been spotted, if there were shouts, he'd have heard them faintly even with his ears still under water.

The second time Nori surfaced, much further downstream than anyone should expect to see him, he dared lift his face far enough from the water to look around. Further away than he'd have expected, two guards were standing on a pier looking down at the water—looking away from him. Nori oriented himself with a quick glance, and dove again.

Nori surfaced again when his bound hands bumped into rocks ahead of him. He crawled up them slowly, finding a crevasse to wedge himself in where he could stay hidden and keep his face out of the water.

His entire body shook as he clung to the rocks of his hiding place, and not from the cold water. He breathed as silently as he could, and shook until he could calm his gibbering panic and force his mind to _work_ again. The rope binding his hands had stretched and loosened in the water, once he could focus on it he had it untied in only a moment. His gag, clenched tight in his teeth, had a little slack when he loosened this jaw. Enough to get it untied and get the rough cloth out of his mouth. Gag, rope, and hood were all tucked into his sash for safekeeping. He breathed carefully, and tried to make a plan—take stock of his situation. On the plus side Nori had too-showy pants and a sash, a small knife, the objects used to silence and kill him, a single boot, and his lockpicks. His most secret stashes of goods _might_ be safe to visit, if he could make sure he was seen by no one. On the other he had bright red hair to mark him, a thief brand visible on his shoulder, and the enmity of both the palace and the Cave of Wonders. One had tried to kill him, the other would succeed as soon as they found out he was alive.

Nori was a dead man, and that could only count as a plus. He was dead, killed and disposed of—Smaug would never see him coming.

And he _would_ be coming. Nori still had Dwalin's tortured scream echoing through his ears. He still had the horror of defeat on Thorin's face as he dropped his sword burning behind his eyes. He gritted his teeth in frustration at the memory. Just a little longer undiscovered, and he'd have taken a camel as far from Agrabah as he could—leaving Thorin as Sultan—never to return. So close, and now everything was ruined because Nori was too much a coward to tell Thorin the truth before he was discovered. Smaug _could not_ be allowed to win. Nori was never supposed to be the loyal friend Thorin no longer believed him to be, but he was. He could not stand aside, run for his life and leave them both to suffer. He did not have it in him to abandon them.

Nori was a dead man. He'd do as much as he could before his death finally stuck to him.

Nori shivered and shook, wedged into a crevasse in the rocks with only his face out of the cold water, and plotted, and waited for it to be safe to escape. _This_ he could do. 'Ali' was not the best thief in the Cave of Wonders by being unable to plan on the fly against even the most overwhelming odds.

" _Your precious prince is actually Ali, a common thief and con_!"

Nori's breath caught in his throat as the memory and Smaug's triumphant voice echoed in his mind. His lips moved on the single silent question he'd been too panicked to think before.

"Where did Smaug hear the name of Ali?"

 

Dwalin slumped in his chains as the bell rang for third watch. Soon it would be morning. Today, Thorin would be forced into marriage with Smaug, and there was nothing he could do to protect him. Dwalin pulled against his chains again, as hard as he could, though he knew it was hopeless. The chains were designed far too well, running from the manacles on his wrists through a heavy ring in the wall to the thick collar around his throat and down to the shackles on is ankles. Anything he moved pulled on everything else. His already burnt out throat was bruised from fruitless pulling.

He was helpless, there was nothing he could do for Thorin. He could not even sit to rest. It was torture, designed to break the spirit.

Not that they needed chains to do that to Dwalin. Nothing could break him further than the knowledge of what was to happen to Thorin, because of _him_. Because of what Smaug would to do Dwalin if Thorin resisted his will. Better to die burning far more painfully than the original spell had ever burned him than that—but Thorin would not see it. He cared for Dwalin, for all his people, and the heart that would have made him the finest Sultan of Agrabah was his downfall.

There was nothing Dwalin could do but stand on his aching feet, chained to the wall, and know he had failed. He had no tears. He'd used them all through the hours of the previous day and the loneliness of the long night.

He'd been snuck food and water by a terrified young guard, who'd fed him between nervous flurries of signing. Dis was confined to her own quarters, and Thorin to a guest room. Nori had been drowned. He was a traitor and a con but it still cut to Dwalin's heart. Nori, who'd made Thorin smile and laugh, and who'd reached into Dwalin's chest to lay his most jealous desires bare with a few words and no hint of judgement. Dwalin had had more than enough time to think over all the times Nori had tried to tell them something about his past, the pain-shadows in his eyes before he chased them away with a laugh.

A scruffy little Agrabah street-rat who'd only ever wanted to be a dancer.

Two guards had been killed already, throats burnt out for questioning Smaug's orders. The rest were too afraid to counter him, though he'd lost the loyalty of all but his few closest guards. His callous abuse was shown, now, his cruelty. No one wanted him as Sultan anymore, not even those who'd supported him before, and they were all powerless. There was nothing any of them could do to protect Thorin. Some wanted to mob Smaug all at once, overwhelm him with numbers, but could not gather the support among the guards for a suicide charge that way. Some held hope that the Sultan would recover and wake from his exhausted torpor to put an end to it, but he was the one who'd ordered Thorin's marriage to Smaug in the first place.

There was nothing any of them could do, and Dwalin slumped in his chains as he watched the track of a sliver of moonlight across the floor and waited for the dawn of the most horrible day began to break over Agrabah.

Nori's face melted out of the shadows, and Dwalin might have screamed if he had that much voice left. His back slammed against the wall, baring his teeth at the... the what? Apparition? Reanimated corpse?

Nori did not look at Dwalin, something sharp metal glinting between the pale fingers of a hand that appeared as he floated closer to the cell lock. Dwalin's cell door swung open almost as soon as he reached it, and Nori stepped through—and it was a _step_. He was walking, not floating. Nori was wearing simple loose clothes all in shades of gray, blending him into the stone of the palace. His hair was hidden beneath the folds of a simple turban, his expression the fixed sharpness he only ever wore when he thought no one saw him—hard and maybe even a little cruel. Nori closed the door behind him, cocking an ear to listen out into the silent abandoned corridors.

Dwalin, heart stuck somewhere in his throat, heard Nori breathe out in nearly a sigh. Breathing. Alive. How? Dwalin had _heard_ the weeping of one of the guards who had been ordered to help, who had not wanted to kill Nori and had not dared do other than as ordered.

Nori's eyes turned toward Dwalin finally, sweeping quickly over his restraints. The metal flashed in his fingers as he stepped forward to kneel beside Dwalin's foot. His nimble fingers around Dwalin's ankle were warm as he felt the shape of the shackle, yet more proof that he'd lived. He'd been chained and drowned and now he was, somehow, alive. There was a light metallic scraping sound, little clicks as Nori began to work at the first of the locks that held Dwalin.

So much Dwalin wanted to ask, needed to know, and he could not. His hands were bound, even if Nori _could_ understand any but the most basic signs.

"Do you know about the Genie and the Cave of Wonders?" Nori asked, breathed nearly too quiet to hear. His head was bent down, not looking at Dwalin. Of course Dwalin had heard, it was more legend than truth, or so Dwalin had always thought.

"When I was..." Nori tapped his shoulder, where he was branded a thief beneath his clothes. "The Genie took me. He can do anything for a price. My life for my life, I'd have died in that prison otherwise..."

The story came out of Nori in quick, unadorned sentences. He was a thief, he was a con, and he had not truly chosen. He'd been so young, and he had not known, and he did not try to excuse himself from anything he had done.

"I used to dance for you, in Agrabah's markets." Nori's eyes met Dwalin's for a brief instant as he stood to begin unchaining his wrists, confirming what Dwalin had guessed. The edges of a sad smile played with the corners of Nori's mouth. "I wanted to dance, and you wanted to play. What a pair we might have been..." He ducked his head back down, shaking his head as he worked to pick the manacle lock. As he continued explaining his life— _why_ he was in the palace posing as a prince, when he did not want to. About the deadly position he found himself in, trapped between the palace and the Genie with everyone wanting to kill him, and throwing his loyalty in with Thorin. Nori caught each chain as he opened the manacles, lowering them silently to lay against the wall without so much as a clink. Dwalin rubbed his hands and wrists, getting the life back into them.

"I'm a dead man, but that doesn't matter." Nori whispered calmly, accepting it as he began to work on the final lock, Dwalin's collar. Up close Dwalin could see his eyebrows were darkened, a thin line of kohl disguising the pallor of his lashes. "And you can hate me, obviously. You can both hate me, but Thorin needs us both now and..."

Nori's bottom lip was trembling slightly as he spoke, laying out how he expected to be rejected. Dwalin grabbed him, held his face between both hands, and kissed him. He had no other way to contradict Nori. Nori had lied, but that was because he saw no choice, and he'd come back to help though it was the most dangerous thing he could do.

The lock on Dwalin's collar clicked open, and Nori's arms wrapped around Dwalin's neck in its place, kissing him back. Dwalin let his exhausted legs lower them to the floor, cradling Nori in his arms. Nori's mouth was sweet and gentle beneath Dwalin's, breath catching in a little shudder that might have been a sob. They did not kiss for long, they both knew they did not have the time.

"Oh, Dwalin..." Nori breathed when Dwalin ended the kiss, burying his face against Dwalin's bruised neck for the briefest moment before he pushed back.

" _What of Smaug_?" Dwalin asked, hoping Nori would remember the brief lesson when Thorin had gone over a few signed names. That he would know who Dwalin was asking about. He indicated his abused throat, in case. He was useless to any resistance as long as Smaug could burn him out at a whim. Thorin would surrender for Dwalin's life.

"Smaug's magic," Nori nodded grimly. "That took some research, he _shouldn't_ have stayed connected to all of you after the spell. Bet my ears he's been planning this takeover a _long_ time. He shouldn't be able to burn you that easily. This will end the spell." Nori pulled two small pouches out of his sash. "It won't break the spell, you'll be silenced still, but..."

" _Give_ ," Dwalin signed quickly. He could live with being silenced, had all these years, but he _needed_ to be able to fight back. To protect Thorin.

Nori dipped his first two fingers into the pouches, nodding sharply. "Open your mouth," he ordered. He reached inside Dwalin's mouth when he complied, reminiscent of the original spell that had silenced him.

"Ash. This fire has burnt itself out," Nori whispered, swiping the foul taste of ash across Dwalin's tongue. "a flake of pure salt to cleanse it." His second finger dabbed it to the center of Dwalin's tongue and jerked his hand back. Dwalin swallowed convulsively, trying to clean the taste from his mouth.

" _This is all? This will work_?" Dwalin asked.

"This _should_ work. I hope it works." Nori answered. "It's all I have..."

" _How do we help Thorin_?" Dwalin asked, and he knew Nori knew Thorin's name—the combination of 'study' and 'prince'.

"We need to protect Thorin from Smaug," Nori nodded, leaning in closer and pressing the pouches of ash and salt into Dwalin's hands, and a small knife from hidden in his boot. "This is my plan..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now with art of recent chapters by Sparkle!  
> http://asparklethatisblue.tumblr.com/post/107712677618/thorin-nori-and-dwalin-from-thorinsmuts-aladdin  
> http://asparklethatisblue.tumblr.com/post/107714794338/when-the-winds-from-the-east-and-the-suns-from
> 
> and by stuffdone!  
> http://stuffdone.tumblr.com/post/108490034892/have-some-fanart-for-the-lovely-when-the-winds


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> plotting

Breaking Smaug's connection to the guards had to be the first step. Nori had to rely on Dwalin to know when and where to find guards loyal to Thorin. He'd signed 'yes' grimly when Nori pressed on him the importance of speed. It had taken Nori much longer than he liked to outfit himself and find a way to sever Smaug's connection to the guards, while remaining unseen and officially dead. Ash was everywhere, often used for putting an end to small fire magics, but to make it the strongest—to have the best chance—Nori'd had to burn a pure fire himself so it was tainted with no other materials or intentions. Blessed pure salt was difficult to come by, not something he could make himself, but he didn't know anything better for cleansing the taint of magic. It had taken too long to figure it all out and for Nori to acquire what he needed, and he could only _hope_ it actually worked. They had only a few hours until Thorin was to be forced into marriage.

Dwalin lead through the palace, and Nori followed. Their communication was limited, but they worked alright together. Nori stuck to the shadows and followed, and Dwalin did not fight him when Nori spotted someone and dragged him into hiding.

Dwalin lead Nori to where a small group of guards were having their very early breakfast—several of whom had been in the original plot to help Thorin. There were shocked exclamations with wide hand gestures when Dwalin appeared. He cut them off with a sharp gesture, signing far faster than Nori could even try to follow most of. He saw Smaug's name—a combination of 'fire' and 'worm', and 'cut' and Dwalin indicating his throat—telling them he could sever Smaug's connection to them as he drew out the pouches. They immediately grabbed the pouches from his hands and began breaking the spell on each other, making faces at the taste, but Nori could see their hope. Here were a few guards loyal to Thorin.

As they finished breaking Smaug's connection, Nori saw the guards begin interrogating Dwalin. Nori could not understand them, but he could see that questions were being asked, rapid-fire.

Nori saw when Dwalin answered with his name. 'Red' was an index finger curling in as it was drawn down from the lips, Nori did not know what an open palm circling the face meant, but he knew the combination of the two was the sign Dwalin used for him, and his heart froze in him. This was not the plan. Nori was dead, he was supposed to _stay_ dead, stay secret. The guards were making wide-gestured exclamations at this. Dwalin signed faster in answer before repeating Nori's name and turning to look toward his hiding place in the shadows—holding a hand out to him in invitation.

It was not in Nori's plan. It was not, and yet... looking out from the shadows into the deep softness of Dwalin's eyes, Nori stepped out into the light to join him. If nothing else, Nori trusted that Dwalin would not do anything that would harm Thorin. If he thought it was safe for these guards to know Nori was alive, then Nori would trust his judgment.

There was shock on the faces of the guards, and Nori did not know what Dwalin had told them, but they were smiling at him. They must know that Nori was really an Agrabah thief, he was not a prince. He'd lied, but they were looking at him as though they were happy to see him.

"I'm here to help Thorin," Nori said quietly, his voice strange among the silenced guards. "I need to fix the mess I made..." he did not add 'before my death sticks to me'.

Dwalin was obviously exhausted from his ordeal chained to the wall, and grim with purpose, but even he smiled a little as he rested his hand on Nori's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. It was almost painfully comforting to have his closeness. Nori had not hoped he ever would again. He did not know why Dwalin would forgive him, and he could not ask.

Maybe it was just that his skills would be useful in this.

Nori and Dwalin were both gestured to 'sit' and 'eat', a space opened at the table for them as guards began to scatter in ones and twos. It was not like the elegant breakfasts served to 'prince Nori' with Thorin hours later in the day. It was a thick and simple lentil stew with big flat breads to go with it, and there was no _time_ but Nori's stomach woke with a vengeance. He was a dead man running on nearly nothing but desperation—caught before breakfast the day before and too busy since to eat anything but a small loaf of stolen bread. He could have pulled away from Dwalin's hand tugging him down to sit, but he didn't.

Nori signed his quick thanks as he tucked into the hot and plentiful food. It was no prince's feast, but it was still richer than most of what Nori was used to as a street rat. There were worse last meals. As Nori and Dwalin ate, more and more guards gathered to break Smaug's hold on them. Others came by too, laundry staff carrying heavy baskets brought Dwalin his clothes and his axes hidden in them, children running with messages. Nori could only hope the castle guards and servants knew each other well enough to not bring in anyone who could not be trusted.

It was a far bigger plot than Nori was comfortable with, too many people involved. He had envisioned something far smaller, something simple, but it did not seem like anyone in the palace wanted to be left out.

"We all support Thorin," one of the children told Nori, too young to be silenced as a guard though her uniform proclaimed her to be in training to become one. "We won't have Smaug. We were going to fight anyway..." she jerked her chin to the side indicate her group young guards. Just kids, all of them. "It'll be better with the with the old guards too." She nodded grimly to herself. Nori could remember being that young—that sure.

He could imagine far too clearly what might have happened to them if he hadn't come.

She agreed to be his translator for a moment, and Nori was able to get more news of what was going on in the palace—what people were planning. Left to their own devices, with Smaug's connection hopefully broken, the guards and a fair number of the servants would have simply swarmed Smaug and his few remaining loyal guards to take him down. They probably would have succeeded, just from sheer numbers. With Nori's planning, and Dwalin clearly backing him up though Nori could not understand the vast majority of what he signed, they should have a better time of it.

Nori lay out his ideas and offered suggestions, and the palace planned. With such a huge force organizing itself—there really was no central leader—it took time. Nori could not even listen in to the vast majority of the conversations, especially when the child who'd translated for him left on another errand. His belly was warm and full, and Dwalin was pressed in solid warmth against his side for some reason. Maybe to keep a close eye on him. Nori should have been on high alert, but he'd been awake far too long. There had not been any time to rest since his capture.

_As the water closed over his head, Nori was already reaching for the picks in his boot, but the lock would not open. His picks could find nothing to tease apart, no tumblers to click into place. He could not breathe. He could not breathe! The chains wrapped around his arms, shaking him in the current, and he could not break away and he could not breathe and he could not pick the lock. He could not waste his air. He could not, he could not! The panic was thick in his throat, the chains like big hands clamped down on his shoulders. The water was over his head, he could not breathe, he could not breathe! If he breathed he would drown but he could... not... hold..._

Nori kicked hard, scream building in his throat as he flailed away from the chains... hands?... holding him, body choking on a huge involuntary gulp of... air? Nori half-stood, boots tangling together, and fell hard on the stone floor as he kicked away from Dwalin. He retched, coughing, his lungs could not understand that he _was not_ drowning. He was safe, for the briefness of this moment, but his entire body was shaking. It was ridiculous, he _knew_ it was ridiculous. He _had_ picked the lock, and he swam away. He had not died in the murky dark of the river.

He did not have _time_ for this.

Nori took a deep breath, held it, released—and another, locking the panic away breath by breath. It could not have him. Not yet. If he survived, maybe he'd have time for it.

"I'm fine," Nori said, turning away from the silent worry of the guards—from Dwalin's concerned eyes. He was fine enough for this. He had to be. He had not drowned, and he would be just fine so long as he never slept again. That might not be any problem at all.

One of the guards poured a cup of tea—a big workman's cup, not like the delicate cups served to princes—and held it out to Nori in offer. It did help, warmth and strong sweetness to steady him as Nori settled himself back on the table. He might not be shaking on the outside anymore, but he was far more aware than he'd like to be of the places in his bones that hadn't _stopped_ shaking since he was hauled away to be drowned.

Dwalin's big hand stroked slowly down Nori's back. Was it just the morning before it had been on his bare skin, their bodies lying together in pleasure? Before everything was broken.

Nori looked up to the doorway as another group of guards and servants came milling in with hope and fear in their faces. He looked right up into Kara's face, her mouth falling open with a gasp as she saw him.

"Stop her!" Nori choked out, "Stop Kara, she's Smaug's spy, she'll..." but she did not turn to run, as all eyes turned to her and guards began to bristle. She stumbled toward Nori, sinking to her knees with her hands over her mouth.

"You _lived_ ," she breathed, tears beginning to roll down her round cheeks. "I am so, so sorry! I thought you were that night with Thorin, consummating your marriage and Smaug's defeat. I _never_ would have told you were not in your rooms if I had known..."

"You told, and I was drowned, but I was trained to survive." Nori's voice was hard even in his own ears. He could not bring it to himself to forgive her. His execution was on Smaug and the guards who'd chained him and thrown him to the river, but some part of the blame was hers. "It is harder now, but we will still defeat Smaug for Thorin."

"Oh, but that's the thing..." Kara bit her lip, looking around at the gathering guards and servants. "It's not just Smaug. He's bringing in paid soldiers. Mercenaries, loyal to no one. Ranks of them. And the wedding is starting early. Now."

Nori closed his eyes with a groan as guards and servants began exclaiming in wild gestures to each other.

Nori should have predicted it. He should have _known_. That was a line from his own book, wasn't it? Hit hard and fast before they even know you have a knife. Of course Smaug would bring in reinforcements if he sensed the unrest in the palace and guessed he'd used up his good will. The wedding was the weakest point, and Smaug would know that.

"We need to move _now_!" Nori said, gulping down the last of his tea and standing. "I need a small group with me. Who volunteers to help free Princess Dis?"


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things do not go as planned

Princess Dis' balcony was easy enough to climb up to, for someone trained to it. Two of Nori's volunteers made sure he wasn't spotted as he broke into her rooms.

Dis was awake and dressed, thank the Valar, and Smaug did not have a guard posted inside her rooms. Her eyes blazed when she saw him, mouth opening as if she'd shout at him—and he deserved that anger but there was no time for it.

" _Quiet_ ," he signed quickly, desperately, the signs he'd asked the guards for to placate her. " _Loyal guards. Help Thorin. Wait_."

The princess' jaw clenched, but she finally gave a brief sharp nod in understanding. Nori signed his gratitude and slipped back into the shadows to wait. False dawn was burning off to herald the rising of the sun, but there was still enough darkness for Nori. He did not have long to wait. Right on time the scuffle began outside. The loyal guards were professionals, but so were the guards loyal to Smaug guarding outside Dis' door. As soon as the rescue attack started, one of them came running into princess Dis' room, sword in his hand and an ugly look on his face.

He was a big one, one of the ones who'd drowned Nori, and he felt the rage hot white behind his eyes. The guard made right for the princess, hoping to make her his hostage no doubt. This, at least, Nori had managed to predict. He was on the guard's back in an instant. He wrapped the very rope the guard had tied Nori's hands with around his neck, choking him off before he could shout to alert the others. He was much bigger than Nori and he fought, of course he did, but Nori had him off balance and unawares. He'd been trained to this. Nori snarled through his teeth as he twisted the garrote tighter, riding the guard's back down slowly to the floor. Let _him_ choke. Let _him_ die clawing for breath. Let _him_ know what it was like to be killed.

There was blood on the guard's neck where his nails caught in his skin, tearing at the rope. His body convulsed beneath Nori, fighting for the air he could not have with weaker and weaker struggles. Let him die. Let him die and good riddance.

Princess Dis brought him back from the brink of his first murder. She made a small sound, a frightened whimper of negation, and Nori looked up to see the sickened horror on her face as she watched him. Under her eyes, Nori could see himself. He could see the merciless killer he did not want to become.

Nori's hand dropped the rope like it burned. He was well-trained, taught how to kill, but he never had. He _always_ avoided it. The guard choked in a weak gasping breath, still alive, and Nori did not have time to question himself and what he did or did not want to do. He grabbed the rope and tied the guard's hands tight behind his back. The gag and hood were still tucked into Nori's clothes for safekeeping, and he used them now. He tied the gag around the guard's mouth and shoved the hood over his head, dealing him a kick in the ribs for good measure as he stood.

Princess Dis took a step back from him, the flash of a jewel in her hand revealing a small decorative knife concealed in her palm. She did not trust him, and she had no reason to.

"Why? Razoul is silenced, he can't..." Dis started in a quiet hiss.

"He drowned me," Nori answered just as quiet. "I let him live." He let the guard live, but he did not forgive him. Nori might not have cold-blooded murder in him, but he didn't have forgiveness either.

The loyal guards finished their fight outside then, and Princess Dis' two guards were the first through the door. In an instant Nori was forgotten as she ran to throw herself into their arms. They closed around her, holding her tight. Nori stepped back, allowed them their reunion as other guards grabbed the one Nori had subdued to drag him away wherever they'd taken the rest. They could throw him in the river for all Nori cared.

"We have to go," Nori interrupted after not nearly long enough for them. "The wedding is starting early."

"I know," Princess Dis answered. "They came and took some of my clothes. He's going to make Thorin wear _my clothes_ for it..."

"...bastard," Nori hissed. It wasn't really surprising they'd make Thorin dress like a woman for it, only that they'd not bothered to have anything new made. Dis' clothes wouldn't even fit, Thorin was bigger and more muscular than Dis was. He would look ridiculous, be uncomfortable and hindered in any motion he made, and that was probably the point. This was just another way of shaming him, and Nori refocused his anger where it belonged. He needed to help Thorin out of this mess, that's all he needed to do.

"Follow me," he ordered. Even though he was just an Agrabah thief, Princess Dis and the small group of guards who'd come to free her followed him at a near-run through the palace. The guards signed to Dis as they ran, bringing her up to date with the plan—such as it was.

They met with Dwalin and his group right on time. He'd gathered the things Nori had told him to, and Nori gratefully accepted the bundle that included Thorin's sword from him. Dwalin looked as tired as Nori felt, but solid and deadly with his axes on his back where they belonged.

"Keep the mercenaries out of the palace," Nori instructed unnecessarily. The palace guards knew very well how to protect against an enemy incursion—and that's what the mercenaries were to them. "We'll get to Thorin."

Dwalin signed 'yes', turning sharply to go. He'd join them just as soon as the palace was secure. Thorin needed him, but to defeat Smaug they _had_ to keep his mercenaries out. Dwalin did not like it, but he understood.

Dwalin turned back almost immediately, grabbed Nori, and kissed him. It was a hard kiss, a sudden clash of teeth as Dwalin pulled Nori in close to the hard strength of his body. Nori was enveloped in the warmth of Dwalin's arms and he _wanted_ to melt into them, to be held, to be safe. He couldn't, though. It wasn't really safe. He'd made a mess of everything, and there was so much he had to do to set it right.

Dwalin's endlessly deep dark brown eyes burned down into his when he drew back. He pressed a second gentler kiss to Nori's mouth, just a warm brush of lips, before he pushed Nori away.

" _Help Thorin_ ," he signed, and then indicated Nori with 'no' and something Nori didn't know. His flat hand turning from palm-down to palm-up. He signed something to the guards with him and was gone, and Nori led Princess Dis and his handful on too.

"What was that second thing he said?" Nori asked, jogging through the passageways toward where everyone was being gathered in the courtyard for the wedding. It would be best if Thorin hadn't made it there yet, but they had to be sure first.

"He told you not to die," Princess Dis answered. Her tone was softer toward Nori than it had been. It shouldn't be, not when she'd just seen a good part of why Nori was caught and Thorin was in so much danger.

Nori laughed under his breath, cutting himself off quickly before it could turn into a sob. 'Don't die'. Of all the things Dwalin could have asked of him, he had to ask that.

Nori's group shouldn't have run into anyone. Nori should have been more aware, more careful, even if there was no reason for anyone to be using this passageway to the courtyard. Nori should have been _better_ , but he was tired and he was in a hurry and he wasn't better.

By the time he heard Smaug's laugh, it was far too late. Nori's heart caught in his throat as he stumbled back into Dis, shoving the bundle of Thorin's things behind his back. There was nowhere to go, not fast enough to stay unseen. Two of the guards with him grabbed Nori's arms tight, following the plan flawlessly, and Dis took off at a full sprint with her two guards close behind her to shield her from sight as Smaug came around the corner.

"...finally working together..." Smaug was saying, breaking off as he saw Nori struggling against the guards' pinning hands. "You!" he spat, glaring Nori down. Nori kicked out against his captors, struggling hard, and Smaug hardly flicked his eyes toward the fleeing princess or her guards, dismissing them out of hand. "How many times do I have to kill you?"

Nori snarled wordlessly in answer and fought hard against the guards holding him, just _daring_ Smaug to come closer. He had a blade with the magician's name on it if he'd just get _closer_.

"I told you drowning might not work on Ali," the Genie smiled his big friendly smile at Smaug as he followed around the corner. He turned to look at Nori instead, thoughtfully twisting the curl of his immaculately tended beard with one finger. His smile was as friendly as ever, but Nori could read him well after all these years. His eyes were cold, vengeance waiting to happen. "He's like a cockroach, nasty little thing."

Nori's stomach was cold. He could feel himself shaking as he met the Genie's gaze. He'd known, of _course_ he'd known Smaug was working with the Cave of Wonders. How else would he have heard the name of 'Ali'? He had not expected the Genie to be here. He should have. He should have _seen_ the Genie's hand in the mercenaries and the moved up wedding schedule. Hit hard before they know you have a knife—that was a line from Nori's book, but who'd taught it to him? The Genie was not supposed to be here. The Genie was going to kill Nori, he'd known that ever since he chose not to go to his check-ins, it had become certain the moment he pledged his loyalty publicly to Thorin, but the _palace_ at least was supposed to be safe from the Genie. The Genie never forgave a betrayal, nowhere was far enough to run to be safe, but Nori'd thought he'd have the chance to _try._

"I only had your timely note about his criminal identity to go on when I had him drowned," Smaug smiled through his sharp teeth back at the Genie. True love, there, and Nori had to fight down a panicked scream of laughter. Just what Agrabah needed, Smaug and the Genie combining their power, the most powerful criminal master in the city and the presumptive sultan. "I did not yet have the benefit of your council."

The Genie clapped him on the back, "We should have started working together years ago. No use crying over wasted time, we'll be best friends now. I'm sure we can find _some_ way to take care of Ali, together."

"Hah, what could you even do to me now?" Nori shot back, all bravado with fear sweat trickling down his spine. "You already killed me once, I'm already dead!" He was dead, he accepted that, but there was so much they could do to him before they finally let him finish dying. Nori knew that. He was tangled up in the games of powerful men and it was not going to end well. It was almost enough to make him wish he hadn't picked his lock and let himself drown and fall into Ulmo's arms—but no. No, he'd freed Dwalin and the rest of the guards from Smaug's hold and Dis was running to Thorin now. They might still win, even if Nori's part was cut short. If only they'd get _close enough_ he might manage to stab one of the other of them, but the Genie wasn't likely to let that happen. He was the one who'd taught Nori his tricks.

The Genie and Smaug just smiled at Nori, long enough for his mind to turn over far too many possibilities. He fought against the guards holding him, still snarling through his teeth at Smaug and the Genie.

"I thought you might feel that way," the Genie smiled, "So I brought along someone who's still alive—for the moment." He raised one gold-manacled wrist in a beckon before Nori could even try to guess what he meant. Two of the Genie's favorite hired muscle came around the corner. Hanging between them, disheveled and shaken, was Dori.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> friends and enemies

"No!" the word burst out of Nori's throat unbidden. Not Dori, clearly terrified between the two bruisers holding him. Nori was so careful to never blend his life with his family. Dori was never supposed to be here, never supposed to know. The Genie wasn't even supposed to know who Nori's family was, but of course he did. He knew everything. Never in all his worst-case scenarios had Nori imagined Dori would get pulled into this. It was wrong. And where was Ori? If they had sweet little Ori too...

"No!" Nori snarled at the Genie, nearly pulling out of his captor's hands. "You swore to leave my family out of it. My life for my life and that was my only condition, the only thing I ever asked!"

"Our agreement ended the moment you betrayed me. Contracts were made to be twisted and broken, didn't I ever teach you that?" the Genie was laughing at him, reveling in his victory. He continued, 'if you want your brother to live' and on—but Nori's attention had turned to Smaug. The magician slowly turned his baleful stare toward the Genie, pupils narrowing to furious slits.

"What?" he breathed, smoke curling through his teeth. The sharp fire scent of him intensified in Nori's nose, and he laughed with the fear-sweat sticking all the way down his spine.

"He didn't tell you," Nori chuckled. For all his endless planning, the Genie had not planned on _this_. He did not know the players in the palace, he was running blind here. This was the deadliest mancala game of his life, but right now _Nori_ was the one who had the best idea where the counters lie. The Genie's smile faltered slightly, but Nori's eyes were fixed on Smaug. "Who do you think outfitted me and sent me in here in the place of a prince? I was supposed to lay all your defenses open to him. I've been his best thief for _years_ , didn't mention that while he was making 'best friends' did he?"

"Shut up," the Genie hissed, anger turning his face hard. Nori'd seen him kill less angry, but his voice carried on anyway. Smaug was _listening_. Smaug had killed Nori the instant he was a contender for the throne. If he could be made to see the Genie as a threat—

"I was his power grab in the palace. Being the most feared man in Agrabah wasn't enough for him, he wanted more, he wanted the throne. Can you trust him? Can you trust the mercenaries he pushed you to bring into the palace? How long do you think he'll be content letting you rule? How long will he be willing to share power?"

"Shut up!" the Genie shouted, gesturing to his hired muscle. Nori could see it about to happen, could do nothing to stop it as one of them turned to punch Dori in the stomach. It was just a fist, not a knife. Not yet. He'd survive the hit. Nori's body curled in against it like it was his own pain as Dori coughed and wretched, but his eyes he kept fixed on Smaug. The magician was staring at the Genie hard, tendrils of smoke rolling off him thicker with every quickening breath.

"You see how well the Genie honors a contract. How long before he betrays you?" Nori barely breathed, hardly loud enough to hear. Smaug had not given Nori even the slightest bit of attention, but his words were obviously heard. There was a breathless moment of stillness as Smaug puffed up, unnaturally tall.

The Genie smiled at Smaug, big and friendly, though Nori could see the tightness of anger and worry in his expression. "I'm sure men like _us_ can find a way to work together, the benefits are—"

"I have not worked so many years to have my throne taken by a common criminal!" Smaug roared, eyes burning with a flash of light as he struck. He drew his sword, flames burning along it as he swung. The Genie might have been unprepared, but never unready. His own sword was in his hand as fast—though he'd appeared unarmed the instant before. The Genie _never_ appeared to be holding anything until the instant he needed it. He was not so obvious a magician as Smaug. Even Nori didn't know if he could summon items he wanted, or if he merely concealed what he already held.

The fight was brutal. The guards backed away, pulling Nori with them, and he was happy to go. Smaug fought vicious, fire crackling around him, but the Genie was never to be underestimated. He matched Smaug for skill and strength, and he threw anything he could at Smaug as he fought—little flash-bombs to singe and blind him, ropes to entangle him. Smaug burned them all away, heat rising as they fought. They struggled back and forth down the passageway, meeting and breaking. The Genie's hired muscled backed away from the fight too, not daring to interfere for fear of both magicians, taking Dori with them. Nori and the guards, and the hired muscle and Dori fled back, and back, nearly converging. The guard to Nori's right gave his arm a little double squeeze to pull his attention away from the horrifying spectacle of Smaug and the Genie fighting. Her eyes flicked toward Dori and back, eyebrows rising in a question.

" _Yes_ ," Nori signed behind his back, fist tapping. " _Wait_." he could not sign it properly with his hands held behind his back, but she seemed to understand anyway when he turned his hand palm-up and wiggled his fingers slightly. Rescuing Dori from the Genie's bruisers was important, but not as important in the grand scheme as making sure Smaug did not suspect the guards of being against him too soon.

Smaug and the Genie's fight was all flash and fire, the scent of burning hair and flesh, the crack and boom of explosions and magic, but the guards around Nori edged closer to the Genie's bruisers as they retreated. They would be where they needed to be when the time was right.

The Genie and Smaug seemed to be matched, at first. Nori would not bet on the outcome of their confrontation, until Smaug placed his hand on the Genie. Smaug caught hold of the Genie's arm, something the Genie might have _let_ him do to try and use it against him, but the Genie faltered. His face paled as he stumbled back. It could have been a trick, but it did not look like it to Nori. He heard the Genie's bruisers' breaths catch in fear. They didn't think it was false either.

"I will steal the heat from your very bones!" Smaug roared as he closed back in, smoke curling through his sharp teeth and flames crackling down his spine.

"No!" the Genie shouted back, and whatever it was he threw next cast light far too bright to look at. Nori hissed as he turned his face away, cringing along with everyone else, but from just the corner of his eye he forced himself to watch.

There was not much he could see, in the flames and flashes. Two bodies struggling against the light until one fell to its knees, and the swing of a sword.

There was silence in the aftermath. As Nori's vision returned, he could see two figures slumped on the floor. One stirred, rising haltingly to his feet. Smaug, standing alone on flagstones cracked from the heat. He leaned heavily against a singed and fire-blackened wall. At his feet the Genie did not move, the spreading pool of blackness around his body focused into deep wine red as Nori's sight cleared. His head was not attached.

Nori forced his eyes away, bile rising in his throat. The Genie... he'd taught Nori everything. Nori had spent far too many years working for him, terrified of him, but still...

"The Genie is dead!?" Nori could hear the horrified denial in the bruiser's voice as both of them released Dori. Dori, good man, immediately grabbed the one who'd punched him by the shoulders and slammed his forehead into his face. The bruiser stumbled back, dazed and bloodied, to be grabbed by royal guards. The other took off back the way he'd come, screaming that the Genie was dead, pursued by two other royal guards.

"Do not let them escape, or him either!" Smaug ordered, voice hoarse as he indicated Dori. To appease Smaug, to keep him from knowing that the guards were no longer with him, Dori was immediately grabbed. He fought back, but he was clearly already exhausted. The look he threw Nori was eloquent despair, and Nori's heart broke for it.

He _had_ to get Dori out to safety.

"Dispose of them," Smaug dismissed, waving them off. He still leaned against the wall as though he were not sure his legs would hold him otherwise. "But bring Ali... Ali will _watch_ me wed Thayris before I kill him." He turned away, staggering slightly but gaining steadiness as he continued toward the courtyard.

Nori shrugged out of the guards hands and reached for Dori as soon as Smaug was out of sight. Dori gasped in confusion as he was released, hands clenching on Nori's clothes and eying the guards with distrust.

"It's ok, it's ok now..." Nori soothed, patting Dori all over to try and be sure he was unbroken. "Are you alright? They didn't injure you? Is Ori safe?"

"Ori's hiding, and I'm just bruised, but Nori what is..." Dori flinched away from the guards, confused.

"The guards are with me, most of them, but Smaug still thinks they're with him," Nori explained quickly. "We're with Prince Thorin—he's a man, the way Bifur is. We won't let Smaug force him into marriage. I'm sorry you're mixed up in this." That was too simple, but the basics of it. Nori turned his eyes up to the nearest guard. "Keep Dori safe. Get him out of the palace?" he requested. She signed her quick agreement, placing her fingers lightly on Dori's arm to lead him away.

Dori's hands clenched tighter on Nori's clothes, refusing to be budged. "Come with me," he begged. "Nori, come away. Be safe. Don't, don't..." his eyes flicked to the Genie's body over Nori's shoulder.

Don't die.

Nori gently untangled himself from Dori's hands. He took out the last of his concealed boot knives, the match of the one he'd given Dwalin, and pressed it into Dori's hands for safekeeping. He leaned forward to press a kiss to his older brother's brow and ignored the tears that were gathering in Dori's eyes, the shake of his shoulders as he realized Nori was not coming with him.

"I love you," Nori whispered. "Tell Ori I love him. Goodbye." He could not promise he would come back, that he would be safe. Dori was safe now, and that would have to be enough. Nori stepped back, holding his arms out for the guards to take hold of him again. "Come on. We can't be late for the wedding."

Nori did not look back as they parted ways, pulled in opposite directions.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> legalities

Smaug was fuming in the courtyard by the time Nori and the guards arrived. The royal advisers were gathered to witness, as well as the Sultan. Thrain did not look well, lying on a litter with a healer hovering over him. He did not seem to be aware of anything, his being here to witness was just for show. A few guards had also begun to assemble, preparing. Nori spotted the rank of young guard trainees standing in formation, waiting. He hoped they could be trusted to wait until the right moment.

"Where is the curator of the law to write the contract?" Smaug demanded, smoke curling off his singed robes. "Where are the guards I sent for Dwalin? Where is Thayris?"

"I am here, my lord Smaug," Balin came hurrying into the courtyard, scrolls in his arms. "My apologies for the delay, but a conflict has been discovered."

"What?" Smaug snarled, pupils narrowing as he fixed his gaze on the gray-haired law curator.

"Your intended is already under marriage contract with Prince Nori," Balin managed to sound remorseful, even, as he drew out the contract Nori had secretly signed with Thorin. This was not any part of Nori's plan, but any delay could only be good. Anything that bought time for the guards to repel the mercenaries and come to face Smaug. They might even manage to defeat him. Smaug had killed the Genie, but he looked tired now. He leaned his hand heavily against the wall for support as he glared Balin down.

"Prince Nori never existed!" Smaug snapped back.

"That may be, but clearly he is still alive and to break the contract..." Balin started, but dropped the subject as he looked into Smaug's furious face. "There is also the problem of your intention of declaring commitment and speaking vows on the same day. The law demands that there be at least a full day between them for a royal wedding." he gestured toward a small table Nori had not noticed, set with wine, bread, an apple and a knife.

"It demands a full day _unless_ the Sultan orders otherwise!" Smaug gestured sharply toward the unconscious Thrain, "Which he did. In three days, if she was not married, Thayris was to be married to me! This dawn marks the third day!"

Balin waved the contract again, apologetically. "An argument could be made that the Sultan's conditions were met here," he pointed out. "The spoken vows are secondary to the contract and the ritual meal, especially coupled with a public declaration. That the contract was signed before the vows is unusual, but it still stands. There is strong precedent stating that a couple is legally wed even if the vows were interrupted or... prevented."

"Then I will kill him now!" Smaug turned his gaze on Nori, eyes blazing. Nori's heart was frozen in terror, but that was not new. He was not sure he remembered how to feel anything else, today. "Bring him here!"

" _Yes_ ," Nori signed behind his back, urging on the guards dragging him, struggling, toward Smaug. He might not survive the attempt, but if he could get close enough to stab the magician...

"There is, of course, the traditional full year and a day of mourning after the death of a spouse before a royal can remarry..." Balin pointed out quietly. He winked at Nori behind Smaug's back.

Smaug snarled smoke through his sharp teeth as he turned back to Balin. "Who are you working for?" he demanded.

"The law! Only the law, my lord Smaug," Balin soothed. "The easiest way to annul the marriage is to prove this contract invalid—that Prince Nori never existed, as you said. Have a judge listen to testimony for and against him, send messengers to Tigranakert to ask for confirmation or denial of his identity, then we could..."

Smaug roared a wordless bellow of rage as he pounced on Balin, tearing the scrolls from his arms and immolating them in a ball of fire. Several of the gathered advisers screamed, and the healer practically threw himself over the Sultan to protect him. Balin stumbled back, wide-eyed, smacking out the small fires that had caught in his clothes and beard.

"Now there _is_ no contract!" Smaug declared. He rounded on Nori, slit-pupiled eyes burning and his shoulders hanging heavily as he stumbled a step toward him. "You have obstructed my plans long enough. I will enjoy watching you burn!"

Nori could hear the whimper of terror in the back of his throat as the guards reluctantly resumed dragging him forward. Fear sweat stuck his clothes to him, sticky on his back and underarms. He was a dead man, he was a dead man but he had one last hidden knife on him and if he could get close enough to stick it into Smaug for Thorin...

"Enough!" Thorin's voice rang out across the courtyard. His naked sword was in his hand, chin squared as he strode across the courtyard toward Smaug, and Nori's heart sank. That was not how it was supposed to go! Thorin was supposed to stay back, hide and be safe and let the guards take care of Smaug once they'd dealt with the mercenary incursion. The pants he wore were gauzy and flowing, probably Princess Dis', but his shirt and sash were the ones Nori'd sent to him with Dis in case he needed them.

"Your mercenaries cannot enter the palace," Thorin continued. "Your loyal guards have been apprehended, and those loyal to me freed of your power. My sister is safe beyond your reach."

"...no..." Nori groaned, joined in the word by Balin, as the guards holding his arms dropped him, stepping forward to Thorin's defense. Why would Thorin give away every advantage of secrecy by laying their entire plot open to the enemy? Fire flashed in Smaug's hand, the way he'd done to burn Dwalin, but nothing happened to the guards he was looking at. His eyes widened as he tried again, a larger flash of fire—any benefit of surprise lost to them as he realized Thorin had spoken true.

"Stay back!" Thorin gestured all the guards in the courtyard to stillness. They'd all started forward to go to him, but stopped in obedience to his order. _"All_ of you stay back!" Thorin's unforgiving eyes landed on Nori as he said it, holding him back too.

"Your only fight is with me now, and you need me alive." Thorin smiled at Smaug, hard and wild. "Fight me man to man, worm!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thorin, no


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> final battle

Smaug drew his sword in answer to Thorin's challenge, the blade hanging lower than when he'd fought the Genie, the flames just barely lighting along its edge. The smoke breathed thicker from his jaws as he struck.

Thorin deflected him neatly, stepping into the attack himself.

"Don't let him touch you, Thorin!" Nori called out in warning. "He'll drain the heat out of you." Nori could easily have gotten pushed to the side or back as guards shifted and advisers fled or hid behind, but made sure he didn't. He might have been ordered to stay out of it, but he still had his last knife. If he got a good clean shot on Smaug, he might just throw it. Thorin would never forgive him, but that was true regardless. Nori was a dead man, and he'd take Smaug with him if he could. If Smaug harmed Thorin, he'd jump into the fight regardless of any order—and from the look of the guards around him he wouldn't be the only one.

"I will not lose to you now, _girl_ ," Smaug snarled. "I have worked too long and hard for this day!"

Thorin saved his breath, jaw clenching against Smaug's words but not allowing himself to be distracted. Smaug's exhaustion was obvious, stance slumping and reluctant to move his feet, but he was still fast and deadly as they traded blows.

"Do you have any idea how long and hard the sultan fought against giving you to me? How many times I had to argue against letting you play _prince_? I drained your father to his death bed before he submitted, and I will do the same to you if I must! I will not be defeated now!"

"Traitor," Thorin growled under his breath, attacking all the harder. Even with his attention on the fight, Nori noticed the shocked and angry rumbling of the advisers who'd gathered. Smaug was tired, thinking only of baiting Thorin, or he'd never have made the mistake of admitting that treason in front of witnesses. Whether or not Thorin won the fight, Smaug had already lost the palace.

He just didn't realize it yet.

Smaug's fire-reek was thick in the courtyard, a blue haze hanging in the air. Smoke poured thicker from his jaws with every passing breath—as though he were burning himself up for strength. Thorin was young and strong and well-taught, and Smaug was tired, but he was not weakening further. Thorin and Smaug fought, and the scent of smoke grew thick and choking as the sun began to shine bright and hot into the courtyard. Thorin's brow was beaded with sweat, breathing hard, and Smaug still stood.

"You are weak," Smaug taunted. "You will fail, and then I will kill your beloved guard and that pesky thief. Which would you rather watch die first? How do you like that choice for a wedding present, princess?"

Thorin growled again, flinging himself back into the fight. He was angry, but he was still fighting with his head. He was not letting himself become sloppy. Not yet, at least, but he was tiring.

"The thief first, so you can watch Dwalin weep for his lover?" Smaug asked, mock-sympathy in his voice. "Or would you prefer I kill Dwalin right away to save him the anticipation?"

Thorin refused to answer, but Nori could see the pain in his eyes. He broke away, circling, plotting, and Nori was circling too through the outside of the circle—weaving his way between guards and searching for his opening.

Smaug lunged toward Thorin, engaging again, and Thorin only just had his sword up in time. Maybe the magician had decided it was time to end the battle, but he drove the prince back now. The flames grew big and bright along his sword, little licks of fire growing along his shoulders, slit-pupiled eyes burning bright even in daylight.

Thorin fought every step back he was forced, but Nori could see his growing desperation. He could not last. He could not last, he was not going to _win_.

Horror crystallized in Nori's breast when Thorin fell, stumbling back as the delicate shoe he'd been given to wear caught on the edge of a flagstone. His sword clattered away from him. He threw his left arm up as if to hide under it, screaming as he cowered from Smaug's flames. Nori's last knife was in his hand as he fought to push past guards who were all trying to push past each other to protect their prince and they would none of them be _fast enough_.

"You will learn your place!" Smaug crowed his victory as he pounced, reaching for Thorin's wrist. Time poured as slow as cold honey as Nori fought toward him, knowing he was too late. He should have planned better, fought better, should never have listened to Thorin tell everyone to stay back.

Smaug's claw-nailed hand reached for left Thorin's wrist, only to have it twist away from him at the last possible instant. Thorin grabbed Smaug's arm, pulling him forward as his right hand emerged from the back of his sash with the little knife Nori'd sent him with his clothes. The lost knife gambit, played as beautifully as Nori had ever seen it. Thorin plunged the knife up into Smaug's stomach before the magician even realized anything had changed.

"My place is on the throne!" Thorin snarled, eyes hard. He twisted the knife before he pulled it out, shoving Smaug away from himself. The knife _sizzled_ on the paving stones, glowing cherry-red at the tip where Thorin dropped it. He scrabbled for his sword again, stumbling as he tried to regain his feet, but Smaug was not pursuing.

The magician dropped his sword and reached down to touch the hole in his stomach, his face showing only confusion. There was no blood, and Nori had seen more than enough belly wounds to know to expect it to gush. Smaug gasped in a sharp breath, and bright blue flames burned out around his fingers. He clutched at the wound, trying to hold it closed, but the flames only spread further and faster on his next sharp inhale.

Smaug said nothing. His eyes burned wild, rolling around to look at the courtyard but there was no help for him there. Thorin had gotten his hand on his sword and was coming back up. Smaug lunged, striking with flames in his open hand. Thorin threw himself back, not fast enough—four bright red lines from Smaug's claws blossomed across his cheek.

Smaug breathed in one final time. Flames burnt through his robes in cracks like shattered pottery all the way up his chest now. He screamed a long high wail with his arms wrapped around his torso as if to hold him together. The scream went on and on, as the fire grew brighter. It finally stopped only when flames shot in a stream from Smaug's mouth.

He crumpled, then, falling in on himself piece by piece until there was nothing left. Just ash, and heat, and a few sorry scraps of singed robes fluttering down to the paving stones.

Smaug was gone.

There was only a moment of breathless silence before the gathered guards began laughing or crying or both, whistling and stomping their joy. Thorin was gathered to his feet by loyal guards, still too shocked too feel the pain of the lines that were not bleeding on his face. Cauterized as they were made, no doubt. They would scar. His eyebrow was singed, skin seared pink on his cheek from the flames, but that at least would grow back and heal. He laughed a little too, as though he could not believe what he'd done, eyes searching the faces of his loyal guards.

"My people," Thorin's voice was choked as he touched them, smiled at them. "My loyal guards..."

The guards who'd gone to help keep the mercenaries out of the palace had begun to gather in the edges of the courtyard—Nori had been too focused on the action in the center to notice them before. They were tired, and some of them bloodied, but they had the look of victory on them.

"...Thor..." the voice was weak, but cut through the courtyard like a sword. Thorin's eyes widened as he turned to face his father. Thrain's eyes were open on his litter, looking at Thorin. His cheeks seemed suddenly less gray than they'd been. He attempted to lever himself up on one elbow, but failed, much to the healer's obvious distress. He reached his hand weakly toward Thorin.

"Thorin," the sultan repeated, quiet.

"Father," Thorin answered him, chin squared as he stepped up to kneel at Thrain's side and take his hand.

"I saw," Thrain's voice was weak, but loud in the silence as everyone strained to hear. "I heard. You would make any father proud. My son."

Thorin's breath caught, tears springing up in the corners of his eyes. The celebratory whistling of his loyal guards was nearly enough to drown out the sound of Thorin's sobs as he clutched his father's hand to his chest.

Nori could feel a prickling at the corners of his own eyes as he added his own whistle to the celebration around him. He sagged with exhaustion and relief. They had done it. They really had won, somehow. Thorin was acknowledged as a prince by his father, Smaug was defeated—even the Genie was dead, and Nori was somehow still alive. They'd done it. Against all odds, and all rogue players, Nori'd managed to play this deadly game to a win for Thorin.

 _What in all the blessed names of the Valar was he still doing here_?

Oh yes, _they_ had won. Thorin and those loyal to him in the palace had won, but not Nori. He was never going to win this one. He was still a traitor—a thief, con, and liar. With Smaug defeated, Nori and the guards who stood thick around him were no longer playing on the same side. The Genie was dead, and the palace was in chaos still. That gave Nori a tiny space to act while he was still breathing. If he ran fast enough, he might be far enough away to be safe before the palace started hunting him.

...at least he'd had the chance to say goodbye to Dori...

Nori fled as fast and as inconspicuously as he could from in the middle of a crowd of guards in broad daylight. He nearly thought he was going to make it to the camels, that he would escape and have the chance to run for his life the way he _should_ have weeks before, when a big hand with an inescapable grip closed around his arm.

Dwalin was grim with blood on his face, a shallow gash bisecting his eyebrow and taking up again across the bridge of his freshly broken nose. He had blood smeared in his eye, but it seemed thankfully undamaged.

How ridiculous was it that Nori's first instinct upon being caught was to care for Dwalin? He knew enough to set a nose and bandage a cut, but the palace had healers for that. Nori tugged on his arm, knowing full well it would get him nowhere. He knew how strong Dwalin was.

"Please," he begged. He was so tired, too tired to fight back effectively. He had his last knife still on him, and he knew he ought to draw it and fight his way free, but he couldn't. Nori looked up into Dwalin's bloodied face and didn't have it in him to injure him further even as Dwalin began marching him right back to Thorin.

"Please, Dwalin. I promise I'll go. I'll leave Agrabah and never come back to darken your door. I wasn't even going to steal one of the best camels. Let me run? I already died once. I just want to live, haven't I earned the chance to try?"

Dwalin was inexorable, pulling him onward as Nori pulled back and begged hopelessly. He was a dead man, he knew it, but he didn't want to die. He'd done everything he could to help Thorin, and now this. He couldn't hope the palace would botch his execution a second time.

The courtyard was nearly cleared already when Dwalin dragged Nori back in. The sultan and advisers were gone now, and most of the guards. Thorin was giving orders to dispatch the rest, scarred face still untended.

"Please," Nori begged one last time as they came to a halt before him. He could not bear to meet Thorin's eyes and closed them, bowing his head. His whole body was shaking, but he didn't have the heart to fight. Not against Thorin and Dwalin. It was all he could do to keep his knees from giving out under him. He didn't even have the energy to be properly terrified. All he had left in him was a deep and endless dread.

He was dead. His death had caught up with him and he couldn't even fight it anymore.

The last thing in the world he expected was Thorin's arms wrapped around him, to be held crushing-tight in a hug.

"Thank you," Thorin breathed. "Thank you so much. Dis and the guards told me what you've done." He pushed back, and Nori dared to look at his face. The Genie had done this sometimes, forgiving people before he killed them, but Thorin did not look like that. He smiled at Nori as though he were happy to see him. His left hand rested on Nori's shoulder, squeezing tight, as he reached up to nearly touch Dwalin's injured face with a right hand blistered in the shape of a knife hilt.

"I lied," Nori whispered. He'd lied about everything he was, the brand on his shoulder was proof of it. Lies as big as his, impersonating royalty, were punishable by death. He knew that.

Thorin wrapped his arms around Nori tight again, pulling Dwalin in too so Nori was held close between them. Safe and close, if he could only believe it.

"And you risked your own life to come back for me. You freed my guards and made sure I had the tools I needed, and that matters so much more," Thorin answered. "No matter what else you are, Nori, you are the truest friend I could ask for."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the epilogue left, folks!
> 
> Now with art by Sparkle!  
> http://asparklethatisblue.tumblr.com/post/108577067623/thorin-dwalin-and-nori-in-one-big-happy-cuddle


	29. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and now we have reached the end, with friendship and trust and smut

Everything was different. Smaug's power grab and defeat had changed everything, and for the better. Thrain was recovering, though he might never have his old strength back. He still grew tired easily, but he finally saw Thorin for himself. He made mistakes sometimes, of course, but he was trying. He kept Thorin at his side as his heir, and would not hear any pushback from more conservative advisers. Very few of them were opposed to Thorin taking his rightful place as prince after seeing him defeat Smaug, after seeing the guards' loyalty to him.

There was a new ballad sung now, of how young Prince Thorin was disguised as a girl to protect him from the power-hungry Vizier Smaug, and then revealed himself to destroy Smaug on the day of his forced marriage. It was sung in celebration all through the city, and beyond to celebrate Agrabah's newly proclaimed heir.

Thorin spoke at his father's side in ruling councils now. He was finally being trained to rule Agrabah, and he was not sure he would ever have had the chance without Nori.

Thorin smiled as Nori came out of his room in Thorin's expanded quarters. 'Ali' had come in from Agrabah grim and gray and completely covered up, and Nori came out with a laugh. His beautiful crusader hair was held in a loose messy tail, his clothes the most delicate flowing silks. He was not exactly the same as the 'prince Nori' Thorin had known, less silly and more serious, but most of him had been real. He still loved his beautiful clothes.

Dwalin, who had been pointedly _not fidgeting_ outside Nori's room, reached for him, and Nori went happily into his arms. They needed much more touch, more closeness and reassurance than Thorin did when Nori had been gone.

Thorin and Dwalin had not dared let Nori out of their sight the first few days, afraid he would disappear on them. Nori had been certain they would kill him, even after all he'd done. They were getting better, all three of them. Nori they could trust to go into Agrabah to keep an eye on the chaos in the Genie's power vacuum and be sure no one person became too powerful, and return. He worked in the palace too, getting to know everyone and everything. He was building himself into a better spymaster than any Thorin could have hoped for. The game master, he laughingly called himself, likening it to keeping track of the movements of the counters in a game of mancala. Thorin could not question Nori's loyalty—Nori had fought with everything he had for Thorin even when he should have run, when he thought Thorin would kill him. His loyalty was all the fiercer now that he had a choice for having been made to serve someone he did not like for so long.

Thorin could only hope to become a sultan worthy of it.

Dwalin had impressed the other guards with his own loyalty and how well he'd organized against the mercenary incursion, and had been promoted to greater responsibility among them. He was not Thorin's guard anymore. No one said anything about how he had a room in Thorin's quarters, and was very frequently the guard on duty to protect him.

Nori and Dwalin were kissing now, hands roaming, but by now Thorin could tell that neither of them was pushing for anything immediate. They were so beautiful together, strength and trust and desire. The wound across Dwalin's face had healed well, though his poor nose would never be the same. Nori certainly didn't seem to mind the fiercer look Dwalin had now, and he was always just _Dwalin_ to Thorin.

All of their scars were healing. Thorin's face would always be marked by Smaug's claws, his cheek a little stiffer for the four scars, but at least his eyebrow had finally grown back. His burnt hand had been painful, but had healed well. The faint scars left would likely fade away soon enough.

Nori had gotten off without any scars that showed, but he had been executed and fought on expecting to die, and that left a mark. He was not waking up drowning as frequently any more, or crying for his brother, or worst of all afraid that Thorin and Dwalin wanted to kill him. Thorin had nightmares of his own, of Smaug winning the fight or of being unable to move out of hiding while he watched Nori being dragged toward Smaug to be burned alive. Dwalin would not say what his nightmares were, but more than once he had gathered Thorin and Nori into the same bed to hold them and cry himself out. They each had their own bedroom, but it was the rare night they were all three slept in.

Without the two of them, Thorin would not be where he was. He needed them both, and no one dared say a thing about the fact that he kept them in his quarters. There had been a few noises about finding a _princess_ for Thorin, but he'd put an end to that quickly. He did not want a marriage to a princess and more than he'd wanted a prince. There had been some consternation over Thorin's marriage to Nori—Smaug had only burned a _copy_ of the contract after all—but with both Thorin and Nori's word that it was unconsummated and they did not want to be married, Balin had declared it annulled. Nori was, officially, a counselor of Thorin's now. It was a much more comfortable relationship than a marriage. Thorin did not need anything but his friends. Dis would rule at his side as Queen, have a consort of her choosing, and bear heirs for the throne. It was not traditional, but it was what they both wanted.

Nori and Dwalin gradually ended their kiss, speaking quietly of their love in the shared language of gentle touches. Reassuring each other that they were still here.

"I missed you," Nori finally said, glancing over with a smile to include Thorin too. Invited, Thorin finally came over and fit himself around the back of Nori. It felt good to hold Nori, to squeeze him tight between himself and Dwalin. Dwalin reached over to hold Thorin, big hand stroking his back.

"We missed you too," Thorin whispered against the nape of Nori's neck, smiling at Nori's shudder. "How is Agrabah?"

"Beautiful as ever," Nori answered, "But I've found another bad spot I need Dwalin and the royal guards' help to clear out?" He pushed back slightly to look up at Dwalin.

" _Yes_ ," Dwalin agreed. He gently traced Nori's jaw with his fingertips, eyes soft.

Thorin gave Nori and Dwalin an extra squeeze and set them free to talk business. Nori caught his hand to stop him before he could go far.

"Will I see you tonight?" Nori's bright hazel eyes were warm. Thorin could feel the heat rush into his cheeks even at the delicately worded suggestion, the gentle stroke of Nori's thumb across the back of his hand.

"If you like... I would like that. If you want," Thorin's tongue tripped over itself a little, but Nori just smiled at him. They had begun exploring pleasure a little, finding out what Thorin did or didn't like. He was not like Dwalin, who could dive directly into pleasure with Nori, but Nori refused to let Thorin feel bad about that. He claimed to enjoy what explorations he could have with Thorin before he became nervous as much as he did his easier lovemaking with Dwalin.

"Of course I would like to," Nori assured him. "I've been thinking about it. I have some ideas, but we'll need Dwalin." Thorin glanced up at Dwalin in surprise. Dwalin was not Thorin's guard anymore, and Thorin was finally given a prince's freedom and was no longer expected to be 'kept pure', but he had done very little with Dwalin still. The most they had shared was Dwalin pinning Thorin to the bed with the weight of his body and kissing him senseless, both of them fully clothed. Dwalin was the one holding back, then. Thorin had finished himself with his hand as soon as Dwalin was gone. Thorin wanted Dwalin, but Dwalin was not yet comfortable bedding Thorin.

"If it's alright with Dwalin," Thorin agreed.

" _I will try_ ," Dwalin gave his assent.

"We'll see how it goes, but it's going to be good," Nori grinned. "Trust me."

"With my life," Thorin answered. He squeezed Nori's hand one last time in goodbye, pleased with the flush on Nori's freckled cheeks at his words. He had to go. His father needed his strong arm to lean on to go to council, and Thorin had readied more arguments for letting Dis in to the council too, if she was to rule at his side when he was sultan.

He left with Nori launching into his explanation to Dwalin, signing along with his words and accepting Dwalin's corrections as he went along. He might never be as fluent in sign as those born to it, but Nori was a quick learner and already he could hold a decent conversation.

Thorin left with his heart light and the promise of pleasure to come.

 

Thorin pushed Nori against the wall and kissed him. They'd chosen Thorin's room because his bed was the biggest and he was most comfortable there. Nori, who could fight fiercer and dirtier than anyone, let himself be pinned without the slightest resistance. His mouth yielded beneath Thorin's, letting him take what he liked. Nori's body was all smooth silk over lean muscles, arching hungrily against Thorin.

He loved that trust and hunger, so much. Thorin was a little breathless when he drew back, and Nori's soft lips were parted, bright eyes half lidded. Dwalin was watching, smiling, no longer hurt and jealous when he saw them together. He knew he was not forgotten, just as Thorin knew they still cared for him when he saw Nori and Dwalin together. None of them were diminished by sharing.

"What was your idea?" Thorin asked Nori, who grinned.

"Dwalin, shirt off. I want to look at you. Probably best if you have your pants on for now." Nori directed, slipping out of Thorin's arms and beginning to undress himself. "Sit up against the wall, comfortable as you can, with lots of space in front of you. Thorin, get as naked as you're comfortable with and sit sideways in his lap, so you can kiss." Nori paused as he took his shirt off. "I don't have to be naked at all," he said, as though he'd just realized. "How much do you want me to be wearing?" he asked Thorin.

"Pants on," Thorin requested. They seemed to get the furthest when they started at least a little clothed. Thorin knew that not everyone wanted to touch or be touched, Nori had assured him of it, but he _did_ want to. He wanted it so it burned, sometimes, but his mind always got in the way. For so long it had been denied him, he'd been convinced no one would want him as _himself_ ; it was not always easy to convince himself that he _could_ have what he wanted.

Nori nodded, carefully setting his shirt and sash out so they stayed unwrinkled while Thorin debated which items of his own clothes to remove. Dwalin lounged invitingly on the bed, all beautiful strength, watching them both. Dwalin grinned as his eyes caught on something, and Thorin finally caught sight of red bite-marks he hadn't noticed before on Nori's shoulders. Dwalin loved marking Nori, and Thorin had seen the way Nori responded to it—shuddering and begging for more.

"I see you _did_ have a good afternoon while I worked," Thorin observed, running a finger across one of the bruises.

" _Only Nori_ ," Dwalin answered. Nori's preening had been unbearable when he figured out that 'pretty' was the first part of the name Dwalin had given him.

"Dwalin wanted to wait for you, to finish," Nori added. "But _some_ of us don't need a whole day to recover between rounds."

" _Fuck you_ ," Dwalin shot back lazily, smiling.

"I hope you do," Nori purred.

Thorin had removed his shirt and pants, leaving himself in his smallclothes and binding vest, which he loosened. That was enough, for starting. He climbed onto the bed, as instructed, to sit in Dwalin's lap. Dwalin's strong arms wrapped around him, safe and close. His dark brown eyes were tender, his kisses deep and demanding. Thorin moaned quietly, and Dwalin's arms squeezed him tighter with his answering groan.

"Yes, just like that," Nori praised. "Being held by Dwalin makes you feel safe, so he'll do that. And Dwalin you don't have to do anything to Thorin that makes you feel unsafe." he grinned at them both as though it were the best idea he'd ever had. "I'll just try to get away with everything I can, see where it takes us. Good?"

"Very good," Thorin whispered. He missed the closeness of Dwalin's arm around him for the moment it took him to sign his own agreement.

"Dwalin, you start with his hands or his neck. I'll start with his feet." Nori's hands were warm around Thorin's ankle, massaging to relax him and subtly easing his legs apart. Dwalin picked up Thorin's hand, gently sucking on each fingertip in turn.

Thorin's body relaxed between them, held safe in Dwalin's arms and gently pleasured by the two men he trusted most. The sucking warmth of Dwalin's mouth on his fingers was addicting. Nori's hands teased out any tension in Thorin's feet, and then there was the soft warmth of a mouth on his toes as well, flick of a clever tongue.

Thorin floated between them both, lost in the sensations. He pressed himself close against Dwalin's broad chest, moaning, the hand that was not in Dwalin's patient mouth playing with his own nipples through his binding vest. Dwalin did not move on from Thorin's hand, the way Nori would when they did this. He did not move to Thorin's wrist and elbow and up to the surprising sensitivity of his armpit. Dwalin just sucked and licked and lightly nibbled Thorin's fingertips until he thought he might run mad. Thorin nearly did not realize that Nori's mouth was moving upward—his ankles, the backs of his knees, the insides of his thighs. It just felt good, little shudders through his body, and he was so safe and so warm in Dwalin's arms.

Thorin finally pulled his fingers out of Dwalin's mouth to kiss him. Dwalin sucked and bit at his lips, and Nori's mouth kissed the tender insides of Thorin's thighs, one hand gently rubbing Thorin's belly. He never wanted to do anything but lie here and _feel_. He agreed without thought when Nori mumbled some suggestion about removing his smallclothes.

Nori's hands were gentle, the warmth of his lips and the soft puff of his breath nearly ticklish along the sides of Thorin's mound. Then there was a hot slick tongue delving into Thorin's center and rising to circle his cock, and Thorin crashed back into awareness of himself.

"Dwalin!" he gasped, clinging tight to that safety. He was sprawled out, completely open to Nori between his legs. This, they had never tried. They had never gotten close to trying it. Nori had watched how Thorin pleasured himself, and had tried to mimic it with his own hands, but not this. His lips closed on Thorin's cock, sucking it lightly, tongue flicking relentlessly. Thorin's entire body shook in time, twitching and shaking. He was far, far closer to finishing than he had realized. It felt _different_ than finishing himself with his hand, but he could feel the unmistakable trembling tightness of it coiling in his neck and down his thighs.

"Dwa _liiin_!" he whined, nails digging into his guard, feeling Dwalin's arms squeeze him tighter. It was so... so...

"Is this alright?" Nori asked. His eyes were worried as he released Thorin's cock and all that pleasure and potential melted away. Thorin grabbed Nori by the back of his head and shoved him back into place between his legs. Nori's lips immediately closed around Thorin's cock, moaning at the hard grip of Thorin's hand in his hair.

"Do. Not. Stop." Thorin growled. He was close, so close. If he could not finish he would burst. The pleasure built back up, fast and hard. Thorin buried his face in the crook of Dwalin's neck, held crushing-tight in Dwalin's strong arms. He held Nori in place, grinding himself against the smaller man's face.

His climax rolled over him in waves. There was no thought, no words, only his own pleasure cries and the moans of the men who held him as his body bucked through it. It went on far longer than any he'd given himself, an eternal moment of bliss before Nori's sucking lips became too sharp. He shoved Nori away and closed his legs to ride through the aftershocks on his own.

Thorin came back into himself laughing, his entire body feeling as loose and limp as a child's dolly made of knotted fabric. Nori had cuddled up against him, cock stone-hard in his pants but not pressing Thorin with it. He smiled with Thorin's slick smeared all over his face.

"Good?" he asked.

"Smug bastard," Thorin shoved at Nori with one limp arm. "You _know_ it was."

Dwalin rearranged Thorin slightly in his arms, reaching for Nori. He kissed Nori gently, hesitantly, licking at his lips with a curious hum.

"Told you he'd taste good," Nori murmured, pressing to deepen the kiss. Even so flushed and relaxed, Thorin could still feel more heat in his cheeks at the thought of what they were doing—sharing his flavor between each other. Dwalin shifted, groaning, and Thorin could feel the hard heat of his cock rutting slightly against him.

"Do you want us to go to take care of ours?" Nori asked Thorin, breathless after the kiss. "Or we don't have to right now?"

"Stay," Thorin urged. He didn't want to be alone, and they were always beautiful together. He squirmed out from between them to grab his smallclothes, not wanting to be so naked anymore.

"How do you want me?" Nori asked, quirking an eyebrow at Dwalin as he slipped out of his pants to be bare. Dwalin removed his own, pondering.

" _Is your tongue too tired_?" he asked.

"Never," Nori purred, working his jaw a little as if to stretch it. "Is that what you want? Lick you open slow and fuck you like I promised?" His smile was bright and hungry.

" _Yes_ ," Dwalin signed, heat of a blush burning high on his cheeks.

"Alright, you can lie here, ass up, and I'll..."

"I want to be held," Thorin's voice sounded shaky to his own ears as he interrupted their planning, arms wrapping around his torso tight. He'd dressed himself again, but he felt exposed—raw and naked. He did not want to be alone, forgotten, though he knew they weren't forgetting him just because they wanted their own pleasure. Other times he had been happy to lie nearby and watch them, but this time he needed more.

Nori and Dwalin were there immediately for him. Thorin was wrapped up tight between them, pulled down to the bed to be cuddled.

"You can keep going, if you want, if I can be held?" Thorin offered. Dwalin glanced to Nori, who nodded against Thorin's back, pressing gentle kisses along his shoulders.

"We can work with this," Nori said. He left Thorin with one last kiss to his shoulder and began rearranging them to his liking. Thorin lay on his back, Dwalin on his side beside him, arm and leg thrown over him to hold him close.

"Good?" Nori asked. Being held this way felt good to Thorin, who nodded. He couldn't see what Nori did, but Dwalin's entire body shuddered. Nori settled in among their legs, and it was Thorin's turn to hold Dwalin as he groaned beneath Nori's wickedly clever tongue.

Thorin lay close and safe in Dwalin's arms, warm and pleasured and tired in bed with the two men he liked best in the world. He was a prince, acknowledged as such by his father and his people and expected to rule. He had the life he'd always wanted, and more than he'd ever thought he _could_ have.

If he had a thousand wishes, there was nothing he could think to ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to those few who are still reading along and commenting! You give me life.  
> If you ever want to chat, I can also be found as thorinsmut on tumblr. I'm shy but friendly.  
> <3 <3 <3 forever,  
> -Ts


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